Farm to Table Food

WELCOME TO THE NEW FARM TO TABLE SPACE OF CARMEL MOUNTAIN PRESCHOOL!

This debut session we explored the farm with our five senses!

We used:

1. Our eyes to take a look around and note what we saw- trees, chickens, hummingbirds, flowers, friends, Ms. Maile, etc. 
2. Our ears to listen for a minute and take in all the sounds around- chickens, the wind in the tree’s leaves, music, laughter, etc.
3. Our nose to take in a deep breath for calm and to hone into what we smell- sunscreen, wet grass, chickens, patchouli, lavender, etc.
4. Our tongue to see if we could taste anything on the air, to which our silly friends would say silly things, but most friends would say “I don’t taste anything!” And to that I could tell them that we’d change that very soon!
5. Our last one- was the most fun because we used our hands to snip and pick and feel the food from the garden!

I had the children grab a partner. To each partnership, I handed a basket, a pair of snips, and a cardboard  panel that I crafted with a picture of a specific crop and a window for viewing and matching. The crops I had available for this activity included  basil flowers, kale leaves, Brussel sprout leaves, green onions, lavender, nasturtium flowers and leaves, curly lettuce, and even carrots at the beginning(bonus crops were found along the way too, like bottleneck squash, fava beans, and bush beans!) Once they identified their crop, they would take turns snipping, plucking, pulling and holding the basket! When our baskets were full, we headed back to the kitchen area to prep!

I set up our prep space in four stations with various kitchen tools that incorporate the senses from the eyes, ears, nose, mouth. I also had friends take turns at either end of the platform washing the greens and rinsing the herbs!

At the eye station, our friends used their eyes to keep their fingers safe as they snipped through beautiful basil and nasturtium flowers. This station also offered yummy smells and strengthened fine motor skills!

The ear station offered a release of energy as they pressed down into crunchy leafy greens with potato mashers and rolling pins to see what sounds they could extract!

The nose station put to use more mashing action with the help of the molcajete(mortar and pestle) tool, our friends would pinch off lavender and basil flowers and mash them up gently to release the oils and expel some lovely calming scents to delight our sense! Hehe 

 The mouth station added a technical element of cutting with lettuce knives, crinkle cutters, and wooden push choppers(tools were  dependent upon the age group for this station for safety purposes) As they chopped, they were encouraged to taste a piece of kale or bush beans, squash, green onion or whatever they found in front of them! Some friends spent their time at this station just munching, and some just enjoyed the chopping without tasting. Regardless, the choppers would empty their cutting boards into the salad bowl to build a delicious salad for the school family to take with them for lunch! Earlier on in the session (with the toddlers) I also brought down a stock pot to make a pretend soup. Nature, water, kids just fit so well together. 

This experience was so fun to lead and provided an opportunity for some of our friends to experience farm to table for the first time ever.  CMP friends were exposed to new and known foods in a low pressure, hands on environment, strengthened their team working and turn taking skills, get creative juices flowing, and had a chance to connect and engage with nature!