Celebrate Strawberries - Preschooler Strawberry Activities

Preschoolers love strawberries - sweet, juicy, and vivid red. Like most fruits and vegetables, strawberries provide your preschooler with important nutrients and fiber. And since strawberries are one of the first fruits to ripen in the spring, celebrate the harvest season with strawberry activities and fun strawberry recipes.

Strawberries and Preschooler Health

Four medium-sized strawberries contain:

enough vitamin C to meet your preschooler's daily requirement!

1 gram of fiber

less than 2 1/2 grams of sugar

about 15 calories

Strawberries contain phytonutrients that may provide health benefits. Scientists have found flavonoids, anthocyanins, and phenols in strawberries. These compounds are thought to be antioxidants and may protect against cancer.

Strawberries may contain pesticide residue. According to the Environmental Working Group, strawberries are among the fruits and vegetables with the most pesticide residue. To help reduce you and your preschooler's exposure to pesticides, rinse strawberries before eating them, eat a variety of other fruits and vegetables, and consider buying organic strawberries, which should contain no pesticide residue. Or, plant some strawberries in your own 'organic' backyard for a convenient supply! 

Preschooler Strawberry Activities

Find the Seed Specks. Point out to your preschooler the tiny seeds that cover the strawberry. Strawberries are unique in having the seeds on the outside rather than inside the fruit.

Visit a strawberry farm where you and your preschooler can pick fresh strawberries.

Strawberry taste test. Small and medium-sized strawberries tend to be a little sweeter and more flavorful than their giant counterparts. If you happen to find both a huge strawberry (usually from the supermarket and shipped in from a large farm) and a small strawberry (from local farms or your own garden), do a quick taste test with your preschooler. It's a good lesson that bigger isn't always better!

Preschoolers can prepare fresh strawberries for eating. Push up a stool or stand to the kitchen sink. Your preschooler can rinse each strawberry in water and lay them out on a paper towel to dry. Then an adult can remove the green caps and stems.

Use strawberries to flavor plain yogurt. Instead of buying strawberry-flavored yogurt at the supermarket, your preschooler can help flavor yogurt the fresh way!

Prepare frozen strawberries to make strawberry drinks. Strawberries 'go bad' pretty quickly. If you have extras, just rinse and slice them and pop them in the freezer. To make later use easier, lay strawberries on a baking sheet and freeze. When frozen, you can put the individual frozen berries in a bag and place back in the freezer.

Make a strawberry smoothie. Using frozen strawberries eliminates the need for ice! Just blend together 1 cup frozen berries, 1 cup of plain yogurt or cottage cheese, 1/2 cup of orange juice, and one or two tablespoons of honey for a yummy berry shake your preschooler can enjoy anytime of the day!

Make a strawberry soda. Place 1 cup of frozen strawberries and 1 cup of sparkling water or club soda in a blender. Blend until smooth. Add a couple teaspoons of honey for extra sweetness.

by Kati Chevaux

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