Smile! With Fresh Fruits & Veggies

Eating fruits and veggies is a healthy, green choice! These freggies (fruits and vegetables) have faces with silly grins.

• 1.

  Together, read books on healthy foods, such as Eating the Alphabet: Fruits and Vegetables From A to Z by Lois Ehlert. Discuss familiar fruits and veggies. Snack on a variety of goodies, choosing local produce if possible, to compare their colors, tastes, and textures.

• 2.

  With children, look at portraits of children and adults such as the "Mona Lisa" painted by Leonard da Vinci. Notice the people’s facial expressions. Try imitating some of their looks. What fun!

• 3.

  Display fresh produce for children to touch and use as reference for their drawings. Show prints of fine art still life paintings, such as Emma Jane Cady’s "Fruit in a Glass Compote" to inspire their creativity.

• 4.

  On Crayola Color Wonder™ Paper, children draw and color one or more imaginative fruits or veggies with Color Wonder Markers. Suggest that they add a face with eyes, nose, and mouth to create a freggie portrait.

• 5.

  Ask children to draw a border around the picture to frame the fruit or vegetable portrait.

Benefits

• Children recognize and name a colorful variety of fruits and vegetables.
• Children identify and imitate a variety of facial expressions.
• Children draw whimsical portraits of a fruit or vegetable.

Adaptations

• With children, display drawings in catagories. How many different categories can they find (colors, shapes, fruit/vegetable, root/stem/leaf)?
• Find out why fruits and vegetables are part of a healthy diet. How many servings do children their ages need for good nutrition?
• For some children with special needs, consider computer drawing programs or other modifications.