K2 classrooms launched into citrus fruits during this week’s exciting installment of the “Smell It, Touch It, Taste It” program. Here’s an update from registered dietitian and team member, Mary Kate Keyes:
Citrus Fruits
Wednesday, October 14
The third week of “Smell it, Touch it, Taste it” started off with a fruity question: “What would be your favorite fruit to add to a fruit salad?” While many of the children answered with a variety of delicious and accepted fruit-salad fruits, there were a few students who wanted tomatoes, and even a cry for basil in her fruit salad! What gourmets! However it was the students who answered orange who were in for a treat! Today we talked about citrus fruits: oranges, tangerine and orange juice.
Just like last week, we introduced ourselves to the students: Dr’s. Nicola Kiely and Silvina Choumenkovitch and me, a registered dietitian with a practice in South Boston. This week the children listened to Oliver’s Fruit Salad (by Vivian French), featuring picky eater Oliver a “fruit snob” some may say, who only eats fruits from his grandfather’s garden. By the end of the book he comes around and discovers that his mother can make a delicious fruit salad with fruit from the local grocery store.
Oranges were first on the agenda, and I don’t think there was a single student who had not at least tried an orange before. Some students reported that while, yes, they had tried oranges, they didn’t like them! After all agreeing that instead of yelping “I don’t like it!” all the students agreed that they “Might like it” after all. And like it they did, this may have been the most successful fruit so far; the children loved the oranges and orange juice!
Citrus can be confusing! We explained that different citrus fruits including oranges, tangerines, lemons and limes are all like different members of the same family. Just like we all have different members of our family! And while tangerines may look a lot like oranges, they are different and they taste different too. It was interesting to observe that there were some children who loved the oranges, but there was just something that didn’t taste good when it came to tangerines. But even the tangerine-wary were adventurous and at least licked the orange’s cousin the tangerine. So ask your little student if he or she would like and orange for a snack…and since the students also learned how to say “orange” in Spanish–ask your now bilingual student to teach you how to pronounce “naranja.”
Next Wednesday, October 21, ask your child what he or she smelled, touched and tasted as we explore the world of MELONS!!! This is only possible thanks to the wonderful sponsors in South Boston – a heartfelt thank you to all supporting this program.
This week, the K2 classrooms delved into the world of tropical fruits with the “Smell It, Touch It, Taste It” program. Here’s our latest update from Dr. Kiely:
Tropical Fruit
Wednesday, October 7
“Smell it, touch it, taste it” week two was a tasty success! The children in K2A and K2B were rapt with attention (for the most part) when we came into the classroom this Wednesday to introduce the students to the tropical fruits: pineapple, mango and kiwifruit!
For many of the students it was the first time trying mango and kiwifruit, and what adventurous children attend South Boston Catholic Academy; every single child at least gave a quick lick to these fruits they had never tasted before. And many students surprised themselves with their quick affinity for these tropical treats.
Some of the acceptance and excitement may have been due in part to the brilliant presentation of the pineapple, mango and kiwifruit made possible by the clever designers at Edible Arrangements of South Boston who donated skill and supplies to improve the health of the children of South Boston.
Many parents may have seen the Edible Arrangements emblem on the back of the brochures their children have brought home from school on “smell it, touch it, taste it” day. These gorgeous brochures provide recipes, nutrition information and interesting tidbits about the fruits of the week. Several parents have asked about where we at “Smell it, touch it, taste it” got the brochures, and they are amazed to hear we created them ourselves; they were designed by Deborah Schultz and styled by Bridgette Collado.
Just like last week, we introduced ourselves to the students: Mary Kate Keyes, a registered dietitian with a practice in South Boston, Dr. Sabrina Noel, scientific consultant and me, a Ph.D. Scientist and mom of a K2 picky eater. We also had the help of one of the parents (thank you again Mrs. Provenzano!).
This week the children listened to I Will Never Eat a Tomato (by Lauren Child), featuring picky eater Lola and her older brother Charlie who convinces her to eat orange nibbles (carrots) and moon squirters (tomatoes) despite Lola’s best efforts to avoid these healthful foods. The bright K2A and K2B students picked up right away that trying new things is good for their health, and were eager to smell, touch, and taste (whether just licking or gobbling their fruit in one bite) the tropical fruits that were presented to them!
This Wednesday, October 14, ask your child what he or she smelled, touched and tasted as we explore the world of citrus fruits!
- K2 students enjoy tropical fruits from Edible Arrangements of South Boston.
- Dr. Kiely reads “I Will Not Ever Never Eat a Tomato.”
The K2 Classrooms had the pleasure of opening their doors to the inaugural installment of the ”Smell It, Touch It, Taste It” program last week. This on-going educational nutrtion program was designed for Kindergartners and organized by K2 parent, Dr. Nicola Kiely and her colleagues.
We had a wonderful first week and Mrs. Kiely shares her thoughts below. Look forward to further updates on this exciting program!
Apples, Pears & Apple Cider
Wednesday, September 30th 2009
September 30th was our first day of “Smell It, Touch It, Taste It” and we were all excited to finally put our nutrition program to the test! Over the past four months, five of us would meet every other Tuesday evening to discuss our ideas about how we could get kindergarten children enthusiastic about fruits & vegetables! We decided to start with New England Fruits because we thought the children would be most familiar with these. Arriving at the school we were delighted when we were greeted by your children’s smiling faces. We introduced ourselves to the children; Mary Kate Keyes, a registered dietitian with a practice in South Boston, Dr. Silvina Choumenkovitch, our scientific consultant and myself, a PhD Scientist and mom of a K2 picky eater.
Each child was asked his or her name and favorite fruit. From the back, one little girl announced “I don’t like fruit,” but she liked “peas, mashed potatoes and carrots”. Of the two classes K2A enjoyed a wider variety of fruits: apples, pears, bananas, watermelon, cherries and even kiwi! And what K2B lacked in variety they made up for in loyalty to the three most popular fruits: apples, bananas and watermelon.
We started each class by reading Dr. Suess’s classic Green Eggs and Ham. Oh, surely if SAM I AM could try green eggs and hams then these little tykes would try apples and pears! As Mary Kate read the story we set up plates with two apple slices each. This is a good fruit to start with because most children are familiar with, and like apples. We started out by smelling the apples and asking what it smells like….one little boy shouted “rotten eggs”!! Then we asked the children to touch the apple. “It’s wet,” “it’s hard,” “it’s slimy,” shouted out some enthusiastic voices. And finally, we asked the children to try the apple and if they didn’t want to eat it could they just try licking it. We got every student to at least lick the apple even if they didn’t eat it. Even some students who were very resistant at first even nibbled his or her apple because he saw other children eating their apples!
We did the same thing with pears, and while they were more of a challenge for some students, most of the children ate his or her pears. One little boy even said “I have never had a pear before, these are good!”
After the children smelled, touched and tasted apples, pears and apple cider, we showed them many different apples that can be found right at our local grocery stores. All the students had a big laugh from the name of the “Granny Smith” apple! We also sent the all the children home with a brochure for the parents with nutrition information and recipes using New England fruits! Watch each week for the “Smell it, Touch it, Taste it” brochure that come home each week. These colorful and useful pamphlets not only show you what your little one did at school, but they are full of information to help your whole family eat more healthfully. So this Wednesday, ask your kindergartener if she liked the tropical fruits: pineapple, kiwi and mango she tried in school! Edible Arrangements in South Boston is kindly putting together a beautiful tropical arrangement as I type!
