Infants and Toddlers • Unit 7: Learning About Good Food - LifeWay

Parents Day Out
Infants and Toddlers • Unit 7: Learning About Good Food
WEEK 1: Fruits Are Good
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Guidance Tips
• Safe mobiles made with yarn too short to go around a child’s neck are excellent
visual teaching materials for infants and toddlers when they are hung at the
correct distances for each age. Before an infant is able to sit, pull up, or grasp
items, hang mobiles about 10 to 12 inches above the crib.
• After an infant is able to reach and grasp items, sit up, and pull up, hang
mobiles above a crib out of reach but easily in sight. Mobiles also may be hung
from the ceiling at various places in the room. Hold an infant or toddler up to
these mobiles to look at or touch items.
• After an infant can sit up and move around in his crib, items which can be handled
may be hung from short, strong cords from the sides of the crib. Always
hang items in such a way that an infant cannot be caught or hung up in the
cords.
Concepts for Emphasis
• Fruits are good to eat
and help me grow
strong.
• Many fruits grow on
trees.
• God made trees and
fruits.
Bible Verses and Phrases
• God cares for you
(1 Peter 5:7).
• Thank You, God
(2 Timothy 1:3).
LEARNING ACTIVITIES
Books
Locate the books I Eat Fruit, I Eat Vegetables, and I’m Grown Up. Make a book
using several labels from cans of fruit. Glue the fruit label pictures to pieces of
poster board and laminate or cover them with clear contact plastic. Tape the left
edges together to form a book. Also bring several clean, empty cans with the
same fruit labels. (Check the cans for sharp edges before giving to infants and
toddlers.) Place a few plastic Snap-Lock Beads or blocks inside the cans.
As you talk about the pictures of fruits in the book, toddlers may enjoy finding
cans that match the pictures. Say: “We read in the Bible, ‘Thank You, God.’
Thank You, God, for fruits to eat.”
Music
The words in the song “Thank You, God” can be changed to include anything for
which you want to sing thanks. For example, “Thank You, God, for bananas to
taste, Thank You, God.”
Nature
Place several pieces of fruit in a large plastic bowl. You might include a banana,
orange, apple, and lemon. Supervise children as they handle the fruit so they do
not take a bite from a piece of fruit and choke. Provide pieces of banana or small
cups of orange juice for tasting if allergies are not a problem. As infants and toddlers
handle the fruit, say: “God made the fruit that grows on trees. We read in
the Bible ‘God cares for you.’ God made fruit for Jason to eat.”
Allergy Alert!
Post an allergy alert on the
door notifying parents of
the fruit to be used and the
banana or orange juice to
be tasted in the session.
Teaching Pictures
Locate the pictures “Joey Eats an Apple” and “Fruit” (pictures 8 and 9 from
WEE Learn Teaching Pictures for Two-Year-Olds). Display the bowl of fruit. As
a child holds a piece of fruit, ask him to find the picture of the fruit. Display
magazine or seed-catalog pictures of fruit on a coat hanger mobile.
Infants and Toddlers
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Parents Day Out
Unit 7 • Learning About Good Food
Toys and Games
An interesting coordination game for toddlers involves an aluminum tube cake
pan and a tennis ball. A toddler will enjoy rotating the pan to make the ball roll
in the track around the center tube.
Additional Ideas for Toddlers
• Blocks—Place a board, four feet long by ten inches wide, between two cardboard
blocks so toddlers may sit on, walk on, and straddle the board. Supervise
as toddlers discover ways to use the board with the blocks.
• Homeliving—Provide several large plastic containers and lids. Screwing lids
off and on is a good exercise for coordination.
• Puzzles—Display the picture “Friends Playing Together” (picture 46 from WEE
Learn Teaching Pictures for Two-Year-Olds) near the wooden puzzles “Fruit”
and “Vegetables.”
Evaluation
• In what ways did infants and toddlers have firsthand experiences with fruits?
• What Bible truths did children hear?
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WEEK 2: Vegetables Are Good
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Guidance Tips
• If it is raining during the session, take one child at a time outside for a few
moments. Stand under an awning or porch while you watch the rain fall and
feel drops of rain which may blow on you.
• Sing a song and softly talk to the child about the rain God gives to provide
water for people. Say that vegetables need water to grow to make good food
for people.
• The sense of enjoyment and awe that you feel during the time outside in the
rain will communicate itself to infants and toddlers. Attitudes truly are
“caught,” not taught.
LEARNING ACTIVITIES
Books
Check your supply of books to locate those which have pictures of vegetables
and other foods. Also make a vegetable label picture book similar to the fruit
book described in the previous session. Place books in a colorful plastic dishpan
on the floor. Position several large pillows on the floor for children to lie against
or sit on as they look at books. Younger preschoolers enjoy books more when
they can sit close to you in a cozy environment.
Music
Softly strum a zither as you sing songs or talk with infants and toddlers. The
novelty and interest of this music may distract and calm children who are upset.
Sing “God Loves Me,” substituting names of vegetables as you focus on food.
If children go outside to enjoy the rain, sing the song “When It Rains.”
Infants and Toddlers
Concepts for Emphasis
• Vegetables are good
to eat and help me
grow strong.
• Vegetables need
sunshine and rain
to grow.
• God made the
vegetables.
Bible Verses and Phrases
• God made us
(Psalm 100:3).
• Work with your hands
(1 Thessalonians 4:11).
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Parents Day Out
Unit 7 • Learning About Good Food
Nature
Pour a half inch of water in a dishpan and place it on plastic sheeting to catch
spills. Place two or three small potatoes and carrots nearby. Carefully supervise
as one or two children wash the vegetables. Remind older infants and toddlers
that the water needs to stay in the dishpan. As children play in the water and
wash the vegetables, say: “You are washing the vegetables with your hands. We
read in the Bible ‘Work with your hands.’ Farmers work with their hands to
plant potatoes and carrots. Thank You, God, for vegetables we eat.” Remove the
water from the room immediately after this activity.
Teaching Pictures
Locate the pictures “Friends Playing Together” (picture 46 from WEE Learn
Teaching Pictures for Two-Year-Olds). Display this picture along with other pictures
of vegetables (from magazines and seed catalogs) around the room. Using
small pictures of vegetables, make a coat hanger (molded plastic) mobile by
tying string to the pictures and suspending the pictures from the coat hanger.
Hang the mobile from the ceiling and hold infants up to see the mobile.
Toys and Games
Collect several sizes of empty cans with vegetable picture labels. Remove any
sharp edges inside the can rims. Younger preschoolers will enjoy nesting and
stacking these cans. Provide colorful plastic Snap-Lock Beads and small blocks
to put inside the cans for a fill-and-dump activity. As infants and toddlers crawl
or walk to toys, manipulate items, fit objects together, and so forth, say: “You are
growing strong because you eat good food. God made vegetables for you to eat
and grow strong. Let’s open our Bible and read the verse ‘God made us.’ ”
Provide a Read to Me Bible for Kids with a marker at this Bible phrases located
in Psalm 100:3.
Additional Ideas for Toddlers
• Blocks—Place objects shaped like a circle, rectangle, square, and half moon on
the floor near the blocks. Prior to the session use a felt-tipped marker to outline
shapes of the objects on a large piece of poster board. Put the poster board on
the floor. Encourage toddlers to match the objects to the shapes on the poster.
• Puzzles—Provide the wooden puzzle “Vegetables.” Ask toddlers to name the
vegetables pictured in the puzzle. If a toddler has difficulty working the puzzle,
offer suggestions and encouragement, but do not work the puzzle for him. You
may want to ask another toddler to help.
Evaluation
• Name the experiences children had with vegetables.
• Did you have an opportunity to enjoy rain with infants and toddlers?
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Parents Day Out
Unit 7 • Learning About Good Food
WEEK 3: Milk Is Good
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Guidance Tips
• Food is an important element in your relationship with preschoolers because
much of your time is spent feeding infants and assisting toddlers with snacks
and meals. Do not hurry children through feedings and mealtimes. Pleasant
conversation and a gentle touch are important as you help meet the physical,
social, and spiritual needs of preschoolers during mealtimes.
• Hold infants as you feed them their bottles. Sing to them and gently rock them
as you feed them. Do not prop bottles for infants because younger infants can
choke when left alone with propped bottles.
• When feeding toddlers, seat them at a low, child-sized table. Encourage the
children who want to feed themselves finger foods without assistance. Remain
positive and loving.
Concepts for Emphasis
• Milk is good to drink
and helps me grow
strong.
• Milk comes from cows.
• God made milk.
Bible Thoughts
• God made us
(Psalm 100:3).
• Thank You, God
(2 Timothy 1:3).
LEARNING ACTIVITIES
Books
Locate the books Baby Farm Animals and On the Farm. Prior to the session find
pictures of a bottle of milk, glass of milk, carton of milk, bowl of ice cream, and
other milk products. Glue each picture to a piece of poster board and seal the
pictures inside a small zip-lock bag. Stitch the zip-lock bags together on the left
edges (with the zip-lock openings on the right edges) to form a book.
As you sit on the floor with a toddler or hold an infant and look at books, talk
about the good food God provides. Help children name foods such as fruits, vegetables,
milk, and so forth. Say: “In the Bible we read, ‘God made us.’ God
made good food for you to grow strong. Thank You, God, for milk to drink.”
Music
The songs “Thank You, God” and “The Animal Song” provide opportunities for
boys and girls to express themselves through music.
Nature
Prior to the session find two clear plastic bottles with lids which can be sealed
tightly. Fill one bottle about one-third full of water, and fill the other bottle onethird
full of milk. Seal both bottles tightly, taping the lids as an additional
precaution. Infants and toddlers will enjoy holding the plastic bottles, shaking
and sloshing the liquids. Name the liquids in the bottles, helping preschoolers
identify and name milk and water. Say: “A verse in the Bible is ‘Thank You,
God.’ Thank You, God, for milk to drink.” Following the session discard the
contents of both bottles.
Teaching Pictures
Locate pictures of various farm animals. As you look at pictures of animals with
preschoolers, make the sounds of the animals, particularly the “moo” of the cow.
Encourage older infants and toddlers to imitate the animal sounds you make.
Say: “God made the cows. Milk comes from cows. Thank You, God, for good
milk to drink.”
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Parents Day Out
Unit 7 • Learning About Good Food
Toys and Games
As you hold babies to feed them their bottles of milk, place colorful socks on the
bottles for infants to feel and examine. Toddlers will enjoy a game of dropping
clothespins into an empty gallon-sized plastic milk jug. The nonspring, straight
clothespins are best to use with toddlers. Also cut off the top of the milk jug to
provide a larger opening.
Additional Ideas for Toddlers
• Blocks—Add several cereal box “blocks” to the block area for this session. To
make these, collect several sizes of cereal boxes. Stuff the insides of the cereal
boxes with crumpled newspapers, packing the boxes tightly. Tape the boxes
shut, then cover all sides of the cereal boxes with clear contact plastic. Place
these cereal “blocks” alongside the blocks. Toddlers can stack these blocks,
using them much as they would the cardboard blocks. As toddlers manipulate
the cereal boxes, ask, “Do you use milk on the cereal you eat?”
• Homeliving—Place empty milk cartons in the homeliving area for stackingand-nesting
activities.
• Puzzles—Provide the wooden puzzles “Farm Animals,” “Pet Pals,” and
“Transportation.” Remove the front panel from a cereal box. Cut this in half to
make a puzzle.
Evaluation
• What conversation did preschoolers hear about milk?
• Were firsthand experiences with milk planned?
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WEEK 4: Thank You, God
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Guidance Tips
• Younger preschoolers learn about prayer through the examples of teachers and
parents. As infants and toddlers hear you sing or say thank-you to God for
many things throughout the session, they sense the goodness of God and your
love for God.
• The thank-you prayers you sing or voice when teaching younger preschoolers
need to be simple, short, specific, and spontaneous. Express your thanks to God
in simple words, using one or two sentences. Name specific things in your
prayer, such as thanks for Janie’s mother, David’s strong legs, milk to drink,
and so forth. Always use spontaneous prayers rather than memorized prayers.
• Do not expect infants and toddlers to bow their heads, repeat prayers after you,
or even stop an activity when you voice a thank-you prayer.
LEARNING ACTIVITIES
Books
Locate the book All About Baby! As you sit on the floor with an infant or toddler,
picture-read the book. Express short conversational thank-you prayers about
the child’s own family and experiences. For example, you might say: “This is a
picture of a mother and daddy. Thank You, God, for Bryan’s mother and daddy.”
Infants and Toddlers
Concepts for Emphasis
• God loves me and gives
me good things to enjoy.
• I hear my teachers say
thank-you to God.
Bible Verses and Phrases
• Jesus said, “Love one
another” (John 15:17).
• Thank You, God
(2 Timothy 1:3).
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Parents Day Out
Unit 7 • Learning About Good Food
Do not expect younger preschoolers to understand how to express gratitude or
thankfulness. Foundations for thankfulness become attitudes in children because
they observe adults expressing thanks.
Music
During resting and sleeping times, play a quiet recording. At other times during
the session when infants and toddlers are playing, you may want to play segments
from the cassette tape or CD ‘Specially Special Songs. Provide jingle bells
sealed inside small plastic bottles, a coffee-can drum, or other safe noisemakers
for younger preschoolers to shake, rattle, or pound while they listen to music.
Use your singing voice to interest or calm a child, naming the child in the
song. “I Have a Good Friend” and “Thank You, God” may be adapted to include
the names of specific children.
Nature
Bring fresh flowers for preschoolers to smell. Tie the stems of the flowers to a
coat hanger to make a mobile. Hang the flower mobile out of reach of the children
but in a location where you can hold children up to the mobile as you touch
and smell the flowers. Since many flowers are poisonous if eaten, do not allow
children to handle flowers. As you look at the flowers with a child, say: “God
made the flowers. Thank You, God, for pretty flowers and for Maria’s nose to
smell the flowers. A verse in the Bible is ‘Thank You, God.’ ”
Allergy Alert!
Post an allergy alert on the
door notifying parents of
the flowers to be used in
the session.
Teaching Pictures
Locate the pictures “Joey Eats an Apple,” “Fruit,” “A Family Walking,” “My
Family Thanks God,” “I Love My Family,” and “Thank You, God, for the
World” (pictures 8, 9, 12, 14, 20, and 21 from WEE Learn Teaching Pictures for
Two-Year-Olds). Teaching pictures displayed in the room provide you with
opportunities for conversation with children about things for which you can
thank God: good food, family members, friends, Jesus, the Bible, flowers, trees,
and so forth.
Make a “thank-you box” by taping four pictures onto the four sides of a large
cardboard grocery box. As an older infant crawls to the box or as a toddler
climbs in and out of the box, talk about the pictures.
Toys and Games
Prior to the session purchase five or six colorful plastic bangle bracelets.
Younger preschoolers enjoy handling, mouthing, and carrying these bracelets. A
large plastic bottle with a long slim neck is ideal for stacking the bracelets onto.
Also provide a rock-n-stack toy.
Infants and Toddlers
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Parents Day Out
Unit 7 • Learning About Good Food
Additional Ideas for Toddlers
• Blocks—Provide large soft plastic farm animals and several empty shoe boxes.
As toddlers use these along with cardboard blocks, say: “God made the animals.
Thank You, God, for the animals.”
• Homeliving—Place empty food containers and cartons in a large grocery bag.
As toddlers pretend to eat food and feed dolls, say, “God loves you.” Read the
Bible verse in the Bible “Jesus said, ‘Love one another.’ ” Say, “Thank you
for helping one another and for taking care of the dolls.”
• Puzzles—On a small blanket on the floor place the wooden puzzles “ Farm
Animals,” “Fruit,” and “Vegetables.” As toddlers work puzzles, say thank-you
prayers for animals and food.
Evaluation
• Did you feel gratitude for blessings in your life as you taught preschoolers
today?
• Name specific things for which preschoolers heard you thank God.
RESOURCES
Bible
• Read to Me Bible for Kids • 155819844X (NIrV)
• Read to Me Bible for Kids • 1558198458 (KJV)
Books
• All About Baby! (Dorling Kindersley, 1994)
1564585301
• Baby Farm Animals (Penguin Putnam)
0721495486
• I Eat Fruit (Tofts, Zero to Ten) 1840890002
• I Eat Vegetables (Tofts, Zero to Ten) 1840890010
• I’m Grown Up (Miller, Little Simon) 0689800436
• On the Farm (Brown, Dorling Kindersley)
1564582698
Pictures
• WEE Learn Teaching Pictures for Two-Year-Olds
0767333381
Music
• ‘Specially Special Songs: Music for Early
Childhood
Songbook • 0767334884
Double Cassette • 0767334825
Double CD • 0767334817
Puzzles (Constructive Playthings)
• “Fruit” • CP-903 (4 pieces )
• “Transportation” • DL-4001 (5 pieces)
Puzzles (McGraw-Hill Children’s Publishers)
• “Farm Animals” • J040010 (5 pieces)
• “Pet Pals” • J48086 (4 pieces)
• “Vegetables” • J48089 (4 pieces)
Parents Day Out curriculum is published by LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention, One LifeWay Plaza,
Nashville, Tennessee 37234. © 2002 LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. All rights reserved.
Infants and Toddlers
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