Taste Test Tuesday

I've been trying to come up with ways to keep my sixth graders engaged until the end of the year.  We have a good routine going, but it gets kind of routine.  We'll be studying Greek and Roman mythology just for fun and they typically like that.  But I read something in the newspaper about a daycare that had Taste Test Tuesday where they tried different kinds of food and then wrote about it in a journal.  Food is engaging, so I stole that idea.  

We had our first one today which focused on fruit.  I showed them the fruit and some of them couldn't identify the pears!  We had red pears that they thought were apples, and bosc pears that they thought looked moldy.  We also had papaya, mango, and star fruit.  They loved it!  All but one participated and tried everything.  The star fruit and the ugly bosc pears were the big winners, and the papaya was the loser, but it was devoured along with the rest and they thought the seeds were cool - like fish eggs.  Of course a few boys tried the seeds.

We're going to try different flavored waters as an alternative to sodas, different vegetables and dressings beyond Ranch, quinoa, ethnic foods (Cinco de Mayo is on a Tuesday), and we have a parent bringing us snacks from Singapore.  We might try popcorn with different toppings.  I need to come up with some other ideas.  I'll ask for help from parents. One of them was telling me about bread sticks made out of cauliflower.  That's another idea - sneaky foods.  I'm sure we can come up with healthy and interesting things for the next eight weeks. Anything to keep them engaged!