In early care and education we need to encourage food construction and deconstruction by children.
As children participate in making tortillas they begin to understand that tortillas don’t just show up on the grocery store shelf as part of their taco. They begin to understand that there is a process of mixing and transforming ingredients that creates the food they eat.
As they eat their burrito, they learn that it is made up of many parts. When little hands unroll that tortilla and the filling falls out, they can learn about color; black beans are glossy black, the corn is yellow and the zucchini is green.
When children also plant, nurture, harvest and see these foods growing in their garden, they further discover and interact with the origins of their food.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010 at 12:57AM 
