Colors to Grow By

Directions for Design

The colors, pictures and names of various fruits and vegetables are used to symbolize the colors of a peacock..

Suggested Materials

• Food models or illustrations of fruits and vegetables
• Lettering for title and subtitles
• Artwork of peacock
• Strips of colored paper for peacock feathers

Learning Activities

1. Recognize fruits and vegetables.

   Challenge the students to name as many fruits and vegetables as they can in three minutes. They then create a list of all the fruits and vegetables they know. Group according to color.

2. Investigate colors of fruits and vegetables.

   For fun, have Red Day, Yellow Day, Blue Day, Orange Day or Green Day. On these days, encourage students to eat at least one food of that color. For example, on Red Day, choose strawberries, cherries, a slice of watermelon, a tomato, radishes, beets, or another red food. On Yellow Day, choose a banana, corn, or another yellow food.

3. Design fruits and vegetables.

   Provide younger students with patterns of fruits and vegetables to color and cut out.

4. Learn about the nutrients in fruits and vegetables.

   Discuss the nutritional importance of the Fruit Group and the Vegetable Group as two of the five food groups. Fruits and vegetables provide not only color to a plate, but also nutrients for good health. The Fruit Group provides important amounts of vitamins A and C, potassium, and other minerals. The Vegetable Group provides fiber, vitamins A and C, iron, magnesium, and other minerals.

5. Keep a fruit and vegetable diary.

   Inform students that fruits and vegetables are rich in vitamins, minerals, and fiber, all of which will help their bodies grow big and strong and remain healthy. The Food Guide Pyramid recommends that children eat at least three servings of vegetables and two servings of fruit daily. Have students keep a fruit and vegetable diary. In this diary, they keep track of all the fruits and vegetables they eat over five days. Children can draw or write their entries. Ask students whether they ate their five serving of fruits and vegetables each day. Remind them that fruits and vegetables come in many forms: juice, canned soup, etc. Discuss ways to increase their intake, such as eating fruits and vegetables throughout the day with meals and snacks. Encourage the students to select and eat (or taste) fruits and vegetables offered in the school cafeteria.

   Ask students to come up with reasons to eat more, and a greater variety, of fruits and vegetables. Remind them that eating more fruits and vegetables in a greater variety will provide the vitamins and minerals needed for growth. They can brainstorm the benefits of having strong and healthy bodies and use their ideas to create slogans, such as "Another fruit a day helps me play." They can post the slogans around the class as motivators. Then they set goals to eat more fruits and vegetables and write them in their diaries. For example, “I will eat one more fruit every day.” A good idea for increasing fruit consumption is to have them decide to eat a fruit instead of some other snack and to drink fruit juice instead of soda. Challenge students to try a new fruit or vegetable every week.

6. Have a fruit and vegetable tasting party.

   Arrange for food service staff or parents to provide fresh fruits and vegetables for the party. At the party, have students taste the foods and keep a tally of the number and types of fruits and vegetables they tried. Encourage them to try a fruit or vegetable they have never tried before. Have them describe each food, using words to describe its taste, its feel to the mouth, and its sound when chewed. Examples of descriptive words include, cold, salty, chewy, sweet, juicy, crunchy, etc. Then ask students to write a story about their experiences.

7. Survey fruits and vegetables in “brown bags."

   Have students take a survey of the fruits and vegetables eaten by those who “brown bag it” at lunch time, compared to those who eat lunchroom food. Can they draw any conclusions from their survey? Working with the food service staff, have the students conduct a customer survey to find out which fruits and vegetables are the most popular. These students can encourage other students to try the fruits and vegetables available.

8. Are fresh vegetables noisy?

   Fresh vegetables can be noisy to eat! Invite students to do a "sound test" comparison to find the loudest and quietest vegetables. In the process, you’ll encourage the students to sample vegetables in their most nutritious forms.

   Gather four or five vegetables that have different textures and can be served raw: carrots, celery, mushrooms, spinach, lettuce, cabbage, cucumbers, cauliflower, and broccoli are all good choices. Wash the vegetables and cut into sticks, slices, florets, or leaves. (Review the different plant parts the students will be eating.)

   Work with a small group of children at a time. Ask the students to wash their hands. Set out the vegetables and sample them one at a time. Start with carrots. Describe the color and feel of raw carrots. Remind everyone to listen closely. Then invite the students to bite into the carrot sticks and chew. Ask them to describe the sound of the carrot when it is chewed. Repeat the process for each vegetable. Vote on which vegetable has the loudest crunch and which has the quietest – or no crunch at all! Discuss how we need to eat vegetables every day.

9. Introduce mystery bags.

   This activity illustrates the senses of taste, touch, and smell. The students feel and smell the contents of several Mystery bags to guess what food is inside. Make six or more Mystery bags with a different fruit or vegetable in each one. Suggestions include kiwi, red or green apple, red or green pepper, celery stalk with top left on, lemon sliced in half. Include one or two foods that may be new to the students, such as star fruit or acorn squash. If you have the resources, the students will enjoy tasting samples of the "mystery foods" after they have made their guesses. Talk about how the food feels, smells, and tastes as the students eat. For sanitary reasons, be sure that the food used for tasting is fresh. Do not eat the food that was used for feeling and smelling in the Mystery bags.

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