Children assemble their own salad from a buffet table that includes vegetables that are leaves, seeds, fruits, roots, and stems.
Set up a buffet table with salad ingredients.
Wash your hands!
Materials
- Fresh vegetables—choose examples of produce that come from different plant parts, such as leaves (lettuce or parsley), roots (carrot or radish), stems (celery or asparagus), fruits (cucumber or pepper), and seeds (fresh peas). These may be the same selections used during Plants Feed Me.
- Salad bowls or plates for bite-size pieces of each ingredient
- Knife and cutting board (for teacher use)
- Disposable plate or bowl for each child to assemble a salad
- Fork for each child
- Napkin for each child
- Optional: Salad dressing
Preparation
- Wash and peel (if needed) salad ingredients and cut into bite-size pieces. Place each ingredient in a separate bowl.
- At an appropriate time of day, set up a salad buffet table with the washed and sliced pieces of produce you have brought to class.
Directions: Lesson 8
Snack Time
In the Plants Feed Me activity, it is suggested that you provide some fresh vegetables to show children and talk about the part of the plant that we are eating when we eat a carrot, cucumber, pea, etc. Salad Snack offers the opportunity to sample those tasty vegetables!
- Let each child assemble a salad with different ingredients he or she likes, in the quantity of your choosing. Possible discussion ideas:
- Do you have more (carrots) or more (cucumbers) in your salad?
- Which vegetable do you have the most of? You must really like (peas). What do you like about them?
- Talk about the taste and texture of each vegetable. Have children describe the parts of the plant they are eating as they enjoy their salads.
- What plants are you eating that grow under the ground? Above the ground?
- How do some plant parts under the ground help a plant grow? How do plant parts above the ground help a plant grow?
- Discuss how plants help people live and grow. Plants feed us and help us stay healthy and strong!
- What are some things we do to help our class plants grow? (We plant seeds, water plants, and pull weeds.)
