Materials
fresh young pea pods (5 per child)
cherry tomatoes (4 per child)
sliced cucumbers (3 slices per child)
pieces of sweet yellow or orange peppers (2 pieces per child)
lettuce (1 piece per child)
small bowls
Instructions
1. Place all of the ingredients in separate large bowls. Give each child a small
bowl.
2. Do the following fingerplay with the children:
Five Fat Peas
Five fat peas in a pea pod pressed. (hold hand in a fist)
One grew, two grew, and so did all the rest. (put fingers up, one by one)
They grew and grew (raise hand in the air slowly)
And did not stop,
Until one day the pod went POP! (clap hands together)
3. Ask each child to take five pea pods. Show them how to split open a pea pod
and count the peas inside. Are there five, like in the song, or even more?
4. Invite them to open their pea pods and put all the tiny peas into their bowl
and count them.
5. Ask the children to add four tomatoes, three cucumbers, two peppers, and
one piece of lettuce to their bowls. See if any of the children notice that each
time there is one less of each ingredient.
6. Talk about the textures and colors of their salads.
7. Let the children eat their bowls of salad with their fingers.
