Eating the Alphabet
Monarch Learning Academy parents have joined forces and are dedicating one afternoon a week to get out in the garden and educate their children. Each week, the group decides on a topic to share with their children and students. This week YES Garden Club parent, Sharon Dahlquist, wanted to share the wealth of health knowledge she has.
A healthy diet is such an important part of development. Eating the rainbow of colors that nature provides enables us and our children to get all the vitamins and minerals needed for a healthy body and mind. It is not only important to provide our children with nutritious meals but even more important to provide them with the knowledge required to make healthy choices.
In this weeks Garden Club activity students got to read Eating the Alphabet by Louis Elhert. This is a great picture book that list all the fruits and vegetables from A to Z. This book got the kids thinking and turned into a food guessing game. Next everyone sat down on a color cloth and pretended they were sitting around a dinner table. Paper plates were handed out to the students as they closed their eyes to imagine a healthy plate of food. When the students opened their eyes they began to color with crayons and markers their imaginary plate of yummy food. After all the students displayed their plates, the group discussed whether their plates usually looked like this or if there were some adjustments that may need to take place in the way they were eating and why.
This is a great activity for parents to do at home or teachers to use in the classroom. The kids really enjoyed tasting different fruits and vegetables and saying something descriptive about it.
To end the day the students took some time to explore the garden and see what was ready to be harvested. While exploring the garden students see, feel, smell and taste the plants and when harvesting use the techniques they have learned with respect and gratitude.
And last but certainly not least, watering! Get out the hose, fill up all those little buckets and watering cans. The kids just love this part! Watering by hand gives them a chance to more deeply connect with the plants and growing process.
Get out there and garden!
