Should we use real vegetables in Early Years play?

Plastic play or natural play? Plastic veg There is much debate about using real food in children's play and being respectful of food and the awareness of food poverty and or allergens.

Here are two different arguments sharing thoughts and ideas on food play, when Trish of Tinker lab posed the question " Should food be used in Pre School Activities?"

"With millions of children in the world living in poverty, I think it is ignorant to use food for play. Sticks, crunchy leaves, seed pod, tree slices, bark, dirt, organic sawdust, shells, small stones, sand, ice….. The list of non-food, non-toxic FREE play alternatives are endless. Mother Nature has provided us with all we need for sensory play. – Lee-Anne

If we are not “pro-food” in sensory play, then what are we? Unless you’re only then reaching for natural materials, the alternative is synthetic, manufactured items that cause their own environmental footprint and sense of “disposable” waste. If properly cared for, food sensory items can be reused again and again — the same bag of quick oats, the same batch of homemade playdough.
Food provides unparalleled, multi-sensory engagement and is something that most people reading will have ready access to.
Also, if the concern is having children “play with their food,” I would suggest that allowing this might encourage children to be more adventurous with their food choices. Even painting with spices might encourage a plain-eater to try something a bit spiced up! – Jennifer, Study at Home Mama

At The Curiosity Approach, we feel that food does need to unprotected and so too must our planet and as Jennifer of Study at Home mama states, if we are not using nature the alternatives are PLASTIC manufactured items. Yes! We need to respectful and not wasteful. We need to select food items that have past their sell-by date or become spoilt. Choose items the children have grown themselves or perhaps have been donated prior to being dumped in the rubbish or garbage bin.

We need to be mindful and use food appropriately, without wastage and disregard of how sacred each piece of fruit or vegetable might be-

How wonderous to provide opportunities to smell the items, investigating the array of smells that fill their noses.

The touch & texture of rough cabbage leaves or the sound of peas popping out the pod.

The opportunity to hold small sprouts in tiny hands or feel the weight of a pumpkin.

Inspiring curiosity as children handle or taste items that they have never encounter before.

How many children have been given time and space to unwrap a red cabbage layer by layer?

To use spoons, scoops or tweezers to ladle out a stringy pumpkin?

Or simply to use the real items when playing; providing opportunities for conversation, language and thinking critically. To count and explore mathematical concepts; weight, size & measure.

Using real vegetables & fruit provides endless opportunities for curiosity, awe and wonder. To explore and investigate, to develop following a holistic approach.

Real versus plastic:

The plastic feels the same, smells the same, same weight, same size, same glossy appearance both inside and out.

When have you ever seen a watermelon the size of an orange with Velcro inside?

Yes, it encourages cutting skills, but so does cutting carrots or chopping up a cucumber. Let us see the immeasurable value in handling and experiencing food prior to being cooked or transformed from its natural state. To explore, investigate and learn about nature. In Early Years we all understand that PLAY is where children learn best.

Let children experience the real deal – value their play!

You don’t have to be wasteful, if you’re worried about using food items in play due to your ethical views – then use kitchen items that are over their use-by date. Grow your own items, so that children learn about where items come from. Learning about the natural world & how incredible Mother Nature is. Ask at the local grocery store for items that are being taken off the shelves. Local fruit & veg market stalls – have spoilt goods that they’d happily donate to a worthy cause.

We also believe that we need to be mindful of not only respecting food and awareness of wastage but also respecting our children!

At The Curiosity Approach, we would strongly encourage anyone to consider the usage of 'food play' as a sensory tactile activity. The process of stripping our non- mobile babies off to sit them in wet Tuff Trays full of cold clammy spaghetti or coloured pasta. Let us give mindful consideration to a non-mobile, non-verbal child, their thoughts, feelings and if they choose to investigate such a resource. Are we treating children with respect?

"The relationship between the nurse and the infants is formed in a planned way while she is caring for the children and not through the use of so-called organised activities. The greatest attention each child receives is during the time he is being dressed, fed, and cleaned, especially in early infancy." - Dr Emmi Pikler Data on Gross Motor Development of the Infant'

Respect children and respect PLAY - The children at my nursery absolutely love authentic resources and feel that as educators we are placing their play as an important part of learning. Giving play the value it deserves. Instead of trying to pass off their play as a frivolous period of time that’s just ‘pretend’.

Celebrate how incredible your learners are and most importantly listen to the incredible stories they act out when negotiating with their peers. Learning starts when they first start to negotiate with ideas, planning roles and responsibilities. If you wait for the ‘play’ to start you’ll have missed the majority of incredible learning. The self-regulation that is so incredible & amazingly important.

Real fruit & vegetables VERSUS plastic – which will you choose?

Here are a few other opinions on food play

Lisa Murphy, M.Ed., CEO & Founder of Ooey Gooey, Inc., Early Childhood Specialist,

https://msooey.tumblr.com/post/18191787480/using-food-in-the-classroom

In her article, Lisa addresses such issues regarding the use of food in the classroom as…

Further reading can be also found in Eliason, C., & Jenkins, L. (1999). A practical guide to early childhood curriculum. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill., which gives suggestions for using food as learning materials, thus, communicating the appropriateness of such practices

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