Food, Cooking, Preschool Learning Activities

Featured Articles

Learning at the Grocery Store

Fun & easy Ways to make this everyday chore a learning experience for both preschoolers and elementary school kids.

Both of these shows make parents cringe, but how do they change the behavior of children who watch them? A simple experiment in child psychology provides an answer, a cautionary warning about how children absorb what they watch on TV.

More Evidence That TV’s
Don’t Teach Tots

Many parents own baby Einstein tapes, but evidence continues to mount that they don’t actually teach toddlers much of anything, despite their name. This article explores recent research into the topic, and outlines differences in the ways that toddlers and preschoolers learn.

Getting Your Baby to Wear Hats, Sunglasses, or
Other Props

You hit the malls and come home with all the latest gear, determined to have more fun accessorizing than you've had in years. You pick out the perfect look, and try it on your baby. Then the first thing they do is yank whatever it is off their head. What do you do? Read and find out.

Child Safety is everyone’s
responsibility!
Child Safety Resources:
Child Safety Books & Information
Child Abduction Prevention
Fire Safety
Water Safety
Child Safety in the Home
Child Proofing Your Home
Gun Safety for Kids
Child Car Safety

Activity Listings (page 1 of 1)
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print any worksheets that go with it:

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Coloring sheets/Mini coloring books
These free printable coloring sheets and mini coloring books will help you jazz up your curriculum. We have several types to choose from: Standard Coloring Sheets, Educational, Emergent Literacy, and others to help with your lesson plan.

Food & Cooking Activities for Kids
This area contains various classroom activities revolving around the food and cooking theme that you can use in your lesson plan. (Actual cooking projects to do with kids can also be found in our ECEkids recipe book.)

Resource: Snack
ANTS ON A LOG _____________________________ View This Activity
Ages: Kids of All Ages
Comments: Be sure to check for Peanut Allergies

How does popcorn pop?
1) Each corn seed has a hard outer casing called the hull. Inside is a mix of starch, protein, and moisture. (The seeds are kinda like us!)
2) When the kernel heats to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, the moisture inside turns to steam, which creates pressure. The starch inside breaks down, absorbs additional moisture, and swells, until...
3) Pop! The outer casing finally explodes in less than a millisecond, which creates the fluffy white we all know as popcorn. This is all the cooked starch from inside the seed.

How’s the food look?
Did you know that how food looks or smells influences how well it tastes?
When we think a food looks good, our brain tells us that it will taste better, and so it does. When it smells good to us, the same thing happens too. Our sense of taste is influenced by what our other senses take in.

-For Discussion: Have you ever had food that looked bad and tasted good? Or looked good and tasted bad? If you were the chef, how might you make food look its best so that it tastes its best?

Resource
INSTRUCTIONS FOR MAKING COLORED RICE & PASTA ____ View
Ages: All Ages

Fun facts about chocolate:
*Chocolate was more or less discovered by the world in 1519, when Spanish conquistadors took their first sip of Cacahuatl, the Aztecs' spiced cocoa-bean drink.

*The average American eats 11.4 pounds of chocolate each year. (One pound is roughly 10.5 standard Hershey's bars). This compares to 26.1 pounds in Ireland, 22.3 pounds in the U.K., 20. 5 pounds in Germany, and 12.4 pounds in Australia.

-Related curriculum: (Math) Bring in a reasonably accurate scale, a tub of rocks, and a burlap bag or other cloth container. Have children measure out 11.4 pounds of rocks in the bag, to get an idea of how much equivalent chocolate they consume each year. Next measure out the weights for these other countries. See if the kids can even lift them all.

*Did you know that chocolate is actually good for you? Although pigging out on it isn't healthy, in reasonable quantities, it can be a health food. Chocolate contains antioxidants which help clear out gunk in your body. As such, moderate chocolate consumption can have beneficial effects on blood pressure, slow down arteriosclerosis and lower "bad" cholesterol. In normal talk: It's good for your heart. Studies have also shown it may be good for the mind, giving you plenty of extra thinking power. So the next time your mom wants you to eat something healthy, tell her: "How about some chocolate?'

Language / Fine Motor
FOOD THEME SPELLING WORKSHEET

Good writing practice for younger kids and spelling practice for emergent readers. Ages: Pre-K to Second Grade

Language / Cognitive
FOOD WORD MATCHING WORKSHEET
A phonics activity for whole-word sounds. Ages: Pre-K to Kindergarten

Language
FOOD MISSING LETTER WORKSHEET
A phonics activity for beginning sounds. Ages: Preschool to Kindergarten