Exploring Our 5 Senses with Fruits and Vegetables - Lois Ehlert September Virtual Book Club Blog Hop

Today kicks off the Year Long Virtual Book Club for Kids, and my boys and I are thrilled to be a part of it! The featured author this month is Lois Ehlert. I joined the book club a  little on the late side, so I chose a book from our home library that is already a family favorite. Eating the Alphabet: Fruits and Vegetables from A to Z is a beautiful picture book with large, colorful illustrations of yummy fruits and vegetables.

After reading through the book a couple of times I led the boys to their table in the play nook where I had a few activities set up.  I had filled up a pillowcase with a variety of fruits and veggies.  The boys took turns reaching into the pillowcase selecting a piece of produce.  I instructed them to keep their eyes closed.  They felt each item, smelled it, shook it to see if any sound was produced, and then they guessed what they were holding.  Most often they were right.  JZ confused the zucchini for a cucumber and lettuce for spinach.  J-Bug thought a black eyed pea was a green bean.  All of their guesses were very close.

After opening their eyes they looked at what they were holding and described it to me.  We talked about size, shape, texture, scent, and firmness.  Most often, they needed a taste test.  We are doing an All About Me unit in school, and so we spent quite awhile experiencing each piece of food with our five senses.  (When we were completely through with all of these activities most of the produce had bites taken out of it, LOL.)  

In addition to exploring the senses I had the boys do a few math and language arts activities.  For each food JZ, age five, pulled out of the pillowcase he told me the beginning sound and wrote the capital and lowercase letters on a dry erase board.  When he couldn't remember the proper way to write a particular letter I wrote it above in red as a guide.

Three year old J-Bug found the beginning sounds in our wooden magnetic alphabet and put them on our DIY magnetic board.

His completed work.  (Ignore the nasty looking brown banana.)

Next we sorted all the produce.  We sorted by shape:  round, long, and miscellaneous.  We lined up all the food by size.  Finally, we classified the produce by fruits and vegetables.   

After sorting we made a simple graph using a dry erase board and glass gems.  We had nine fruits and ten vegetables.  JZ informed me that we had more vegetables than fruits and that one more fruit would make it even.

Be sure and visit the participating blogs in the Virtual Book Club for Kids to see what everyone else is reading this month.  I guarantee you will find a wealth of inspiration and ideas for all ages.

Toddler Approved - Rainy Day Mum - Adventures in Reading with Kids - 3 Dinosaurs - Royal Baloo - The Educators' Spin On It - Inspiration Laboratories - Pleasantest Thing - Edventures with Kids - Two Big Two Little - Playing With Words 365 - Kitchen Counter Chronicles - Outlaw Mom - Mommy and Me Book Club - Crafty Moms Share - No Twiddle Twaddle - The Good Long Road - Ready. Set. Read 2 Me - Reading Confetti - Mama Smiles - Juggling with Kids- Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas - Creekside Learning - Creative Family Fun - The Usual Mayhem - Teach Preschool - PlayDrMom - CraftoArt - Here Come the Girls - Being a Conscious Parent - Smiling like Sunshine - Crayon Freckles - Train Up a Child

To join in the Virtual Book Club grab a button and link up!  I'd also like to invite you to share a photo and/or link on Train Up a Child's Facebook page with your book club activity or craft.

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