After our last fruit investigation, it was amazing to see what Gracen came up with all on her own this week. She’d picked a dragon fruit (one of my personal favourites) from the store a couple of days back and when she sat down with it today, I simply asked, “What can you tell me about this dragon fruit?” Her observations about the outside of the fruit included that it was cold, pink and green, both smooth and prickly, and squishy when poked. She also told me that it smelled like strawberries (hah!)
Once we cut it in half, she told me that it was ‘veeeeeeery’ seedy, that the seeds could be eaten just like those of the kiwi, and that it felt wet.
We peeled the skin off and Miss G got straight to the taste test portion of her investigation. The conclusion? It tasted like strawberries (though I think she often uses “strawberries” because she associates them with tasting and smelling good…she also tells me that her toes smell like strawberries!)
It’s amazing how quickly kids pick things up, isn’t it? We’ve only done this once before and she is already using her sense of sight, smell, taste, and touch to make conclusions about a new fruit. I love this little weekly tradition we have going on and I’m excited to see what she chooses next week.
♥
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One of the fun little things I’ve tried to keep up is having Gracen pick a new fruit or vegetable to take home and investigate during our weekly shopping trips. Though she seriously contemplated a papaya, she ended up selecting this particular dragon fruit today. This is the conversation that ensued while browsing the other aisles…
Yesterday, while shopping for fresh produce, Miss G asked if we could take home a starfruit. It got me thinking. I didn’t know if Grae had ever even seen a starfruit, let alone tasted one. I said sure, let her select the one she wanted, and carry it throughout the store for the remainder of our trip.
Today, after nap time, we pulled it out to investigate. We started by smelling it…
Then moved on to running our fingers over it to feel its texture…
And then to gently pinching it to see how soft or hard it was.
When we were done investigating the outside of the fruit, we decided to cut it open.
Of course the first thing Miss G wanted to do was taste it. This particular starfruit was still a little too green, but you can’t investigate a fun new fruit without tasting it!
Starfruit got her seal of approval, and while munching away, Grae was pleased to discover seeds inside the fruit.
This was such a fun and easy little activity that I think I’m going to let Grae choose one new item during our produce shopping trip each week. While we eat a TON of produce, there are still many fruits and veggies we haven’t tried (especially in our local market’s extensive Asian section). It’ll be fun to branch out a little bit and try new things, and I truly believe that when kids are involved in the shopping and cooking aspects of food, they’re much more open-minded about tasting their selections and creations.