Fun Fruit and Vegetable Activities

FRUITS

• A fruit is a part of a plant that "contains the seeds" that will grow into a new plant.
• Fruits grow on flowering plants.
• Fruits come in many different shapes, sizes, and colors.
• They vary a lot in smell and taste.
• They contain vitamins and are healthy food to eat.

VEGETABLES

• Vegetables are the parts of a plant that we eat: the leaves, roots, stem, and flowers.

Activities:

• Students can listen to or read books on fruits and vegetables.

 

•  Students can visit a supermarket to observe the multitude of fruits and vegetables available in their local markets. If you call ahead of time, many supermarkets will schedule a time of day for you to bring the children and they will give you a tour of the fruit and vegetable section. The children will be introduced to common and unusual plants plus learn where these fruits and vegetables are grown. (A great social studies lesson.) I've done this several times and the children were also given some fruits to taste plus everyone could choose a fruit they would like to take home. (I've found most large and small markets to be very generous.)
• Students can also visit a local orchard or farm. 

The following 12 pictures are all fruits. (Yes, even the tomatoes and peppers because they have seeds.)

• Students can sketch and label various fruits and vegetables.

• Students can count, sort (color, size, shape, texture), classify, describe, measure, and compare fruits and vegetables. 

• Students can use a Venn Diagram or other Graphic Organizer to compare and contrast fruits and vegetables.

• Students can conduct a survey to find out the favorite fruits or vegetables of their friends and families. They can tally this data and create tally charts, frequency charts, or graphs of the data.

• Students can identify vegetables that we eat that are the leaves of plants.

              (lettuce, spinach, cabbage, taro, mint, parsley, coriander)

• Students can identify vegetables that we eat that are the roots of  plants.

             (taro, carrots, beets, turnips, parsnips, radishes, and rutabaga)

• Students can identify vegetables that we eat that are the stems of  plants.

            (potatoes, yams, asparagus, ginger, celery)

• Students can identify vegetables that we eat that are the flowers of plants.

         (cauliflower, broccoli)

 

• Parents, teachers, and students can visit the Dole Website for lesson plans on nutrition education and lots of ideas and fun activities . Included are a Teacher's Toolkit with  Language Arts, Math, Music, Science, and Social studies lesson plans. The lessons are for PreK - Grade 5. 
• Click Here: Dole Website 
 

 

• Students can try to name a fruit or vegetable for every letter of the alphabet. For which letter can they name the most fruits and vegetables?

           A-Apple  B-Banana  C-Cucumber

• Students can be encouraged to bring to school/camp/the beach/family outings/etc.  healthy snacks as they learn more about fruits and vegetables.

• Older students can research which fruits are rich in Vitamin A and Vitamin C.   (Vitamin A: cantaloupe, carrots, sweet potato, spinach, broccoli)  (Vitamin C: orange juice, grapefruit, fresh pineapple, green pepper, cauliflower)
 

• Students can watch a Brain Pop Video on Nutrition. Click Here: Nutrition Video                                                                                                                                                                                                            
  

• Students can name fruits and vegetables for every color in the rainbow/spectrum (ROY G BIV). 

                
                    RED - apple, pepper   ORANGE - orange, pepper

• • Students can help prepare a fruit salad and try to include every color of the rainbow/spectrum. (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet) 
  
  
  • Cathy at Nurture Store made a great Rainbow Fruit Salad......read about it and view it here.
  
  
  • Hopefully students will become excited about eating fruits and vegetables!