Preschool Food Theme Basics

Promote healthy eating and an interest in food by including food and nutrition themes in your preschool classroom. Food is sure to interest preschoolers – they can relate to it, they can tell stories involving food from their own lives, and of course, they can taste it! Food also offers opportunities to discuss colors, shapes, and counting. Here are a few ways you can begin using food in your preschool routine.

Food and Nutrition Questions

Many preschoolers can answer questions about favorite foods,what they ate for a meal, or whether they have a food garden. Call on each preschooler or ask for volunteers to answer the question and, as an added activity, record answers on a poster or chalkboard to create a classroom poll. Families will love seeing the 'results' when they come to pick up their children.

What did you have for breakfast?
What is your favorite food?
What is your favorite fruit?
What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?
What is your favorite place to eat out?
Do you have any fruit trees in your yard? What kind?
Do you grow vegetables in your yard? What kind?
Do you like to go grocery shopping? Why?

Food Show and Tell

Fill an entire circle time or morning activity with discussions and activities about a single food. Pick a seasonal fruit or vegetable or a favorite preschooler food and try some of these food activities:

Start by showing your preschoolers the food. Bring in a piece of a fruit, a vegetable or other natural foods like nuts, beans, or cereal grains.

How does the food grow? Show a picture of the plant the food grows on or a field of the crop. Talk about the kind of plant or part of the plant it comes from – tree, bush, root, grain, etc. Discuss how the food grows on the plant - look for the stem, show the leaves, etc. Talk about the time of year that the food is in season.

Ask your preschoolers questions about the physical characteristics of the food. What color is it? What shape is it? Does it have skin? What color is the skin? What color is the inside?

Talk about the seeds, if any. Where are the seeds? How many seeds are there? Peaches and plums have one, apples and pears have a few, strawberries and raspberries have lots! Open the fruit and count the seeds

Do an art activity based on the food. Prepare paints in the color of the fruit or vegetable so the preschoolers can create their own picture. Use the food or part of the food as a stamp, for instance, half an apple dipped in paint. Place rice or grains in the sensory table. Glue beans on paper.

Taste the food during circle time or snack time. Simply prepare and offer the food or do a taste test of different varieties, like an apple taste test. Get more creative and show your preschoolers how one food can be processed into different forms. For instance, serve apple juice and applesauce along with apple slices.

Follow up by including the food in the preschool snack.

Preschool Food Activity Ideas

Apple Tasting Activity

Strawberry Activities

How Does it Grow Preschool Food Game

What's In Season Calendar for Preschoolers