Yes, we did eat a rainbow! The idea was brought to our kindergartens by our parents for Science Week. The parents wanted to reinforce the classroom work with our plant unit while also introducing the concept of healthy eating.
Earlier the week before, the parents requested the each student bring in an assigned fruit. The children were very excited to go shopping with their families to purchase their fruit and proudly carried in their little bags of grapes, watermelon chunks, peaches, etc. This way the children felt ownership in the "Eat a Rainbow" activity.
Last Wednesday afternoon at our regular science time in the kindergarten common, the parents had prepared the fruit and arranged the bowls in the order of the colors in a rainbow. The children were encouraged to eat some of each color of fruit. Some of the students who are brave eaters, jumped right in tasting a variety of the fruits offers. Most of the children were enjoying many of the fruits. Children could be heard saying, "Mangoes are my new favorite fruit." "I never tried kiwis before, and I really like them."
The children compared various fruits and commented on how each one tasted. There was a lively discussion on who liked which fruits the best. There was also talk about which fruits were the most nutritious. It was the consensus of opinion that blueberries were number one and strawberries were second. Soon, most of the fruits were all gone, and the children were all smiling.
The parents pointed out to the children how tasty the fruits are, and that to be healthy and strong, we should eat foods with lots of different colors. Eat a rainbow not just one day, but everyday! Many thanks to our parents for this important message.
