Our bean plants have started to yield beans. When we returned from spring break, the children noticed bean pods hanging from our pole beans plants.  In preschool, we explore plants to observe and understand the full life cycle of a plant, to introduce students to the basic needs of plants, to learn that some plants can make a healthy fruit or vegetable snack.  At the end of this week, the children will help prepare the beans by cutting them with a plastic knife.  We will be making fried rice with the beans for snack.

Today for snack the children had soda crackers, peanut butter, and strawberry jam. The children used a plastic knife to spread their own peanut butter and strawberry jam on the crackers. When a child helps prepare simple foods, this helps a child to develop small muscle coordination, to notice cause and effect, to describe how things change, to have a sense of pride in accomplishments, and to learn to do things independently.