Washing Fruits and Veggies Activity

Yesterday, we took a walk to Cosentino's Market to buy some fruits and vegetables.  On the way back to school, the kids toted their purchased food in paper bags to save for lunchtime.  We had to talk about why we couldn't eat the fruits and veggies now, and that we would take them back to school to wash them before eating them to make sure they were clean.

Well, this led me to convert this creative idea from the Frugal Family Fun Blog into an activity that fit in with our Grocery Store theme and the fruit and veggies walk yesterday.

Materials needed:
Teacher scissors
Foam sheets
Washable markers
Small sponges
Water and containers, either individual or shared

I cut out fruits and veggie shapes from the foam sheets.  Then each child got a marker, fruit or veggie cut out, a sponge, and a small bowl of water.  I showed them how to make the vegetables "dirty" with the markers, and then wash them off with the sponges and bowls.

This was very exciting for them, and I think also they were just craving a sit down together activity.

Once they got started, they pretty much worked until their markers got too wet to work (once water gets on the tip, they don't color anymore, but even after warning the kids about this it was hard for them to keep the markers out of wet spots).

Those are some busy kids!  Once the water supply ran out (I was refilling their bowls from the large silver bowl) and the marker tips were spent, all but three went to find other things to do.

While others saw a project completed, they saw the potential of a big cleanup activity!  The table, at this point, was covered with water, as was most everything on the table (it's amazing we stayed dry!).

They used their sponges to wipe up the table and then we collected everything and went on our merry way.

Wow!  That was totally worth the time to cut out the shapes, and the obsolete markers, which will now be used for other activities (because I know there's still some usable color inside those things!)

Now go eat your veggies!


*Stephanie*