FOOD: PK-3

Jessica's Week:

The week before thanksgiving is always a frantic race to prep as much of our big meal as possible. In the past I have only tried to get Taegan’s “help” with mixing filling for a few pies or other small tasks and saved the bulk of my cooking for nap time or after bed. This year I really wanted to include her in a significant way. Not only does it teach her a valuable skill but I figured she would be really proud when it came time to feed the large group of family/friends if she could tell everyone how she contributed. With this in mind, we made our weekly theme food. 
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Taegan learned how to set the table properly through the use of a printable laminated placemat and by practicing before every meal. I also asked her to wash her own dishes after dinner using a plastic bin filled with soapy water and a sponge. They weren’t always perfect but she enjoyed this task and the work it took to set up was mitigated by the fact she always got her dishes at least clean enough to go straight into the dishwasher. I also tried to improve her table manners by focusing on things like placing a napkin in her lap, using polite language to ask for what she wants, offering to pass items to others, making conversation about everyone’s day, asking to be excused and clearing the table. 

We practiced sorting out food groups with pictures cut from supermarket advertisements. I spent time talking about the difference between healthy items and treats that are not good for our bodies. Surprisingly, Taegan got really interested in how to keep her body healthy to the point of refusing unhealthy snacks. Woohoo!!! On the other hand she also felt it necessary to scold other children for eating fruit snacks and goldfish. Whoops.  I had her make some pretend Thanksgiving foods for her kitchen. We did a slice of pumpkin pie from tissue paper and bubble wrap painted corn on the cob. She loved using these along with a felt stuffed turkey I found to serve me and all her dolls the thanksgiving meal. 

 I also gave her a printable Thanksgiving shopping list which was used both in our play “store” and on our field trip. I kept it simple this week and just took her around the grocery store with me. In PA I have been fortunate enough to have a local Giant Eagle with the nest (a drop off childcare playroom for shoppers). Usually, this makes shopping tolerable, enjoyable even, for us both. This week however, I just went ahead and planned to spend three hours collecting a small number of items. This is not an activity that can be done in a rush but it was a fun way to accomplish our chores. We named all the fruits and veggies we could find, pausing to check out some of the more unusual variety. I let her walk around and help me collect items from her shopping list and check them to make sure we got the freshest green beans or unbroken eggs. It was a lot of fun to teach this often monotonous task and I started to appreciate it with fresh child-like eyes. We have so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving and the fact we can easily find and  afford to purchase all the food for our feast is not to be overlooked!