November 17-21, 2014
Herb Trees, My Plate, and Celery Stamping
What a fun and educational week it was in Nutrition Expedition! The three-and-four-year-olds had a blast planting their own herb gardens and learning all about "My Plate" (read below), while the two-year-olds, toddlers, and infants were thoroughly engaged in stamping with celery bundles!
I was able to purchase two "Herb Trees" from Meijer a few weeks ago. Each kit came with 5 types of seeds (cilantro, basil, parsley, chives, and oregano), dirt pods (the children loved watching them expand when we added water!), pots, and a stand. Each student had a turn picking out seeds and planting them in the dirt, and we talked about all the things we could do with our plants when they grow! They're very much looking forward to Ms. Kathy's pizza and spaghetti with fresh herbs :)! After, we learned all about "My Plate". The USDA has been offering this tool since 2011 as a way to promote making healthier food choices and building a healthy plate at meal times, and it has replaced the Food Pyramid as the federal government's food icon. Learn more here:
We played a fun My Plate guessing game, where the children drew a food picture from a bag and had to decide what food group it belonged to. I was amazed at how knowledgeable they were! Check out the pictures at the end of this blog post!
The younger children loved doing some celery stamping this week! I gave them little bundles of celery (they leave a flower print when tied together) and paint, and away they went! What messy fun we had!
