Human Responses
Week 76
We respond to things we taste
A precious part of our humanity is that we become aware, we recognize (or are affected) and we respond to the world around us. Through our senses, we touch, smell, taste, hear, and move responding to what’s around us in a variety of ways. God has endowed us with the ability to respond in ways that are well beyond any animal. Animals typically do not exhibit any responses to what they see, hear, touch, and taste outside the realm of their survival. We, of course, have many responses to the world around us.
NOTE: Serving ones will need to bring mirrors for children to use and have several kinds of fruit available for this time. Some vegetables will be needed for suggested activity #1, and for activity #2, there is a need for fruits and a blindfold.
Point to emphasize
We all have fruit that we like to eat. We feel it is so pleasant to eat it.
Reference
Genesis 2:9a
Sample content and conversation with children
We have been discovering how God made us so differently than the animals. Now we will discover that God made us so that we find some fruits so tasty and pleasant to eat.
- [Show picture #1 (collage of fruits).] What is your favorite fruit? [Let several or all children answer.] All those are very good choices for a favorite fruit. But did you notice something? Not everyone selected the same fruit as their favorite. That is very interesting. You know, I said my favorite fruit is (oranges) [show fruit or picture of fruit]. That doesn’t mean that I do not like (bananas) [show fruit or picture of fruit,] but given a choice I would pick (oranges) instead of (bananas). [The main idea here is for the children to realize that we each have a preference in flavor that varies from person to person.]
- [Ask one of the children about their favorite fruit.] Why do you like (apples) the best? [The child may answer that their fruit is sweet or that it is sour. Try to ask about another fruit that is also sweet.] Well (pears) are also sweet, do you not like (pears)? [The child may answer yes or no, but the point is that, even though they are both sweet, the child prefers one over the other.] So even though these two fruits are sweet, you still prefer (apples). That means even though both fruits are sweet, (apples) are tastier to you than (pears).
- [Give each child a mirror or have several mirrors that can be passed around.] Use your mirror to look at your tongue. What do you see on the top of your tongue? [Let children answer.] Those small bumps on your tongue are called taste buds. These taste buds tell us whether something is sweet, salty, sour, or bitter.
- You know, animals have taste buds too. In fact, cows have more taste buds than us. So, a cow might be able to taste food items better than us. [Show pictures #2 and #3.] What are those cows eating? [Let them answer that they are eating grass.] Do cows eat other things? [Let them answer.] No, cows don’t eat yummy fruits; they usually only eat grasses. Since they have a lot more taste buds on their tongues, we might think that cows eat tasty food. But they mainly eat grass. This is because God made us different from the animals. We love to eat tasty fruits, but cows only eat grasses.
- We would not enjoy our food if we couldn’t taste it. But God created us so that we would enjoy what we eat. God wants us to enjoy all the fruits and vegetables that He made! That’s why He made them so tasty. It is wonderful that we can enjoy all the fruits and vegetables that He made! God made us so that we would feel so pleasant when we eat these.
Songs
It’s Breakfast Time
Suggested activities
- Have different fruits and vegetables for the children to taste. You can take turns eating them and discussing the children’s reactions while eating the different fruits and vegetables. They can say why they like or do not like that fruit or vegetable.
- You can do a blindfolded taste test with fruits, for the children to guess which fruit they are eating.
Pictures
#1: Collage of fruits
#2: Cows eating grass (1)
#3: Cows eating grass (2)
