Exploring and discovering are kindergarten readiness activities and promote brain development. The brain connections that children make when they are young help them later on. Some of these brain connections start even before children are born. I was amazed to learn that babies can “taste” in the womb and prefer foods that are familiar. Food preferences for young children seem to fall into two groups, either yucky or more.
In kids, senses are a major source of information for both play and learning. Learning about the sense of taste can be a challenging activity. All parents have stories about trying to get kids to eat or only try a bite of something; just check out the comments to the popular new book French Kids Eat Everything. Parents sometimes have to be quite creative using strategies such as different names — noodles in cheese sauce becomes creamy caterpillars and broccoli is also known as baby trees. Making and eating a sandwich face can be lots of fun.
But foods and tasting can be used for other learning, too. There’s lots of new words, language skills such as explaining and negotiating, colors of foods, smells, and textures. Tummies are hungry for food, brains are hungry for connections. Having some fun with the sense of taste is great for both. Can you serve up some kindergarten readiness for your child today?