Pre-school Topics, Block 3, Week 26: We wonder why we need to eat meat and vegetables

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We Wonder

Week 26
We wonder why we need to eat meat and vegetables

[Note: The emphasis in this story is not the cow or what it eats. Our goal is not to give the answers to the “Why” but to show that the cows don’t wonder why. To wonder why is part of the preciousness of humanity.]

Point to emphasize
We wonder about what we eat and why we need to eat it.

We eat a variety of foods. Our wonderings about our food has led to studies that show what we need (the nutrients) to grow and be healthy. Contrast this with cows who eat the same thing every day.

References
Isaiah 55:2b: Hear Me attentively, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.

Luke 10:8b: …eat what is set before you.

Sample content and conversation with children

  • Today we want to talk about how we wonder about what we eat.
  • Start the conversation by saying: I have a question for you: Have you ever sat down to dinner and just had this? [Show picture #1]. Or how about dinner with just this? [Show picture #2]. Or this? [Show picture #3] Do you only eat rice, only vegetables or only meat for a meal? What do you eat for dinner? [Let the children respond.] Yes, our dinner plate looks more like this. [show #4] We eat rice, vegetables and meat all together! Can you imagine if we ate the same thing for every meal every day? No! That is not yummy at all! We eat a variety of food and we wonder about what we eat.
  • Now, what about cows? What do they eat? [Wait for the children to respond and then show picture #5.] Yes, they eat grass! Anything else? [If they mention hay, reply that it is a type of grass.] No, usually they ONLY eat grass for breakfast, grass for lunch, and more grass for dinner!
  • [Sing the suggested song “munching grass”, the second time through using “cow” instead of “horse”.]
  • Cows only eat grass, and they don’t wonder about it at all. But God made us in such a special way that we wonder what kind of food will help us grow, will help us have good eyesight, and will help us have strong bones and muscles.
  • Show pictures: [#1: children jumping rope, climbing bars, etc. #2: teens doing pushups, chin ups and running strong.] If we only ate rice or tortillas or noodles all the time, we could never be strong and active like these children. We would be weaklings if we ate the same thing all the time.
  • Some people wonder so much about the different foods we eat that they go to school to study what we should eat. I have a friend who is a nutritionist. Can you say that word? [Have them try to pronounce it and figure out what it means.] Her job is helping people choose the right things to eat and explaining to them what certain foods can do to their bodies. She became a nutritionist because she wondered what foods we should be eating. She found out why, when you eat too much candy you can get a tummy ache or become super active. And why you break out when you eat certain foods that you are allergic to.
  • God created us with a desire to know about what we eat and why we need to eat it! We are not like the cows AT ALL!

Suggested activities/games

  • Make your favorite plate
    Print pictures or use supplies from home to make your favorite food and prepare a plate that includes a variety of foods [See #7 and #8 below.]
  • What’s in the bag?
    Have a grocery bag with some different food stuffs in it. Describe an item (banana, apple, broccoli) and have the children guess what it is.
  • The Statue Game
    In this game, you tell the children that, when you are looking, they have to be as still as statues. Have them strike a pose to give the game a little more flavor. You will then turn around to face away from the children, allowing them to change their pose, and turn back quickly to try and catch one of the children moving.

Suggested song

It’s breakfast time

It’s breakfast time and there’s scrambled eggs,
Juice and toast with honey.
But the horses in the field are munching grass,
Munching grass,
Grass, grass, grass.

It’s lunch time now and there’s meat and cheese,
Chips and dip and salad.
But the horses in the field are munching grass,
Munching grass,
Grass, grass, grass.

It’s dinner time and there’s chicken, rice,
Green beans, carrots, cookies.
But the horses in the field are munching grass,
Munching grass,
Grass, grass, grass.

Just grass.

Pictures

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