Young Children Explore Their World Through Taste

We have taste buds on our tongues that tell us how things taste Each food has a particular taste Some foods taste sweet, or salty, or sour, or bitter. Some foods combine these tastes. We may add spices and seasonings to the food we prepare to alter the way it tastes. We like the way some foods taste. We don’t like the way some other foods taste. Sometimes we have to get used to the way a food tastes before we learn to like it.

This can be a fun week for you and your child, as you both discover some new tasty treats. Shake a bit of salt on a clean hand and lick. Shake a bit of sugar and lick. How do they taste? Teach the words “salty” and “sweet”. Are pretzels more like salt or sugar? They are said to be salty. What about cookies? They are sweet. Make lemon-aide together, and teach the word sour. Melt some unsweetened baking chocolate and teach the word bitter. From now on, when you serve a meal, ask your child if something tastes sweet or salty, bitter or sour. Make mealtimes pleasant conversations, and you may find your food battles melt away entirely.

For a really unique art experience, buy some Stick-a-Licks. This is a package of pre-cut geometric shapes, already gummed. The child just licks, and sticks – simple, fun, and relatively mess-free. A great project to save for rainy days, too. A package of 200 shapes is under $2.00, but you’ll pay $5.00 in shipping unless you order enough to total $50.00. You could call your local teacher-supply store, and see if they have some in stock or would be willing to order them for you. They do carry a warning label “not for children under 3″ but no child under five should be doing art projects unattended anyway. Use at your own discretion.

On Friday, you could schedule your young child to visit his or her dentist. If this is not possible, then you can can check out the dental health program offered by the American Dental Association. There are lesson plans, worksheets, and activities for you and your child.

Most of all, don’t forget to have fun! Take come pictures of your child doing this week’s activities and send them to me. I’d love to add them to the end of this post.

Recommended Picture Books for This Week:
You Can’t Taste a Pickle With Your Ear by Harriet Ziefert
Animal Senses: How Animals See, Hear, Taste… by Pamela Hickman
Tasting by Sharon Gordon
I Wonder Why Lemons Taste Sour by Deborah Chancellor
A Taste of Honey by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace
Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey
How many Teeth? By Paul Showers
Yum? Mmm! Que Rico! Americas’ Sproutings by Pat Mora
I Can Eat a Rainbow by Annabel Karmel

If you’re new to the lesson plans, you’ll want to read:
Working with the Lesson Plans: Scheduling
The Family Meal
Calendar Activities
Play Areas for Encouraging Creativity

Taste Lesson Plans

First off, if you want to raise a reader, you must be one!  Your actions really do speak louder than words.  The toddler and preschool child is eager to be just like you.  If you swear when you stub your toe, you can expect to hear those words coming from your child’s mouth at the most inopportune moments.  If your child often sees you in front of the mirror fixing your hair, she may want her hair fixed, too.  Let your child watch you brush your teeth. Hand her a toothbrush and she will try to copy your actions.  This “show and do” method of teaching is so simple!  How else do you think your baby learned to speak in the first place?

Read to Your Child Often, Not Just at Bedtime

Visit the library weekly.  Many libraries have beautiful children’s sections.  Ours is filled with sturdy preschool toys, puzzles, games, kitchen sets, play houses, and more.  Little ones can play while their parent selects picture books for them.  They even have book sets to check out – a bag of books, puzzles and toys centered on a theme, such as “pets” or “music”. I love the children’s library, but more importantly, so does my granddaughter.

Next, teach your child to recognize her own name.  Do just the first name, or the first, middle and last- especially if there are likely to be other children in school with the same first name.  Print it out, and say it.  Write it on a card for your child to keep in her pocket.  Label every piece of artwork she makes with her name in the corner.  Put it in the upper left corner, so she learns to read from top to bottom and from left to write.  Write her name on all her outside toys if you take them to a public park or playground.  Write her name inside her clothing, especially jackets and outer wear that she might remove and leave behind.  Write her name on a peg where you want her to hang her jacket, if appropriate.  Write her name on a placemat at the table.

And finally, teach your child to write her own name.  Have her form crude letters with ropes of playdough.  Let her draw the letters in wet sand or shaving cream.  Write her name with glue on cardboard and shake colored salt or sand into the glue.  After it dries, she can trace the letters with her fingers.  And when she can hold a pencil or crayon well, help her learn to write her name.

Never to Young to Learn

If your child enjoys that sort of game, move on to ending sounds.  This is very helpful for the child who doesn’t pronounce the last sound of words.  That is, by the way, not uncommon, but do not let it continue.  If your child says “dow” for down, or “uh, uh” for “up”, then you need to fix that.  Over-enunciate the final sounds.  Pretend you do not understand.  Say something like, “Do you mean dowN?  Downuh?  Say “DOWN”.  You can expect your child to rebel a little, but before long she will be listening for, and pronouncing the final sounds of her words, as well.  If not, then you may want to have your child’s hearing tested.  It is not a bad idea to have both hearing and vision tested sometime before kindergarten.

Readiness for kindergarten and the school experience is more than just letter recognition.  Other skills your child should master include tying her shoes, toileting by herself including washing her hands, cutting with scissors, holding a pencil correctly, able to sit reasonably still on a chair for a minimum of fifteen minutes, listen to and follow directions, and get along with other children.

For further reading:
How to Teach Your Baby to Read
Early Reading Pros and Cons
Great Books for Toddlers and Preschoolers
My Book Store