From Seed to Table

Parent and child reading a book.

Read a plant story with your child. What plant parts do you like to eat?

25 minutes

 

Get Ready

Materials you will need:

  • Plant storybook (book suggestions: Bee-bim Bop! by Linda Sue Park, Chicks and Salsa by Aaron Reynolds, The Ugly Vegetables by Grace Lin)
  • Marker
  • Sheet of paper
  • Recipe that includes a plant mentioned in the story
  • Recipe ingredients

Things to do before the activity:

  • You can do this activity in two parts if you do not have time to do it all at once:
  • Day 1: Read the story. With your child, create a list of things that happen to a seed after it is planted. (10 minutes)
  • Day 2: Make the recipe. (15 minutes)
  • Get a copy of a favorite plant book. You can look at the library, discount book shops, or children’s book sales. (See the Plant book suggestions above.)
  • Become familiar with the story before reading it with your child.

A character with a speech bubble and rabbit with a thought bubble.

Plants have many different parts!

I wonder which part helps the plant stand upright?

Explore!

Step 1.

Look at the storybook cover. Talk about what you think the story will be about. Notice things in the illustration that are related to plants.

Step 2.

Read the story. Go through the story together. Point out plants you see that you and your child have eaten. Think about fruits, vegetables, herbs, and so on.

  • What part of the plant is a (strawberry)?
  • Count together the number of plants in the story that you and your child like to eat.

Step 3.

Flip through the story a second time. Point out things that happen to a seed after it is planted, such as: it gets watered, roots sprout, a plant grows, the plant gets harvested, and so on. List them on a sheet of paper.

  • Together, count the number of things on your list that happen to a seed after it is planted.
  • How did the plants get water?
  • Talk about what happens when a seed gets the things it needs to grow.

Review!

Connect the story to a family recipe that includes one of the plants in the story.

  • Read the recipe ingredients.
  • Point out that some of the ingredients are from different parts of a plant. How many of the ingredients are from parts of a plant?
  • What things did the plants need to grow? Look at the list you created while reading the story together.
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