Family Tip: 5 Ways to Use our TWK Tasting Sheet
by Wendy Jeffries, Executive Director, TasteWise Kids
Our #TWKFamilyFridays series is where we hope to provide you with resources to both learn a little more about the world of food and its sources, and connect with one another in the process.
Check out our entire series of family tips here.
5 Ways to Use our TWK Tasting Sheet
Today we are sharing a fun worksheet (TWK Tasting Sheet) to help kids understand how our different senses play into what they eat. For older kids, this might feel a bit basic (or not, as food is fun no matter your age!) so we also offer a few ways below to kids of all ages can improve their vocabulary and ability to describe food – in fun ways!
Another helpful resource for some of these activities is our Yuck/Yum Words to describe Taste sheet.
Become a 5 senses explorer
Help kids select 2-3 foods to explore (at least to start). If you have a magnifying glass around, use that too explore up close. If it isn’t handy, eyes and fingers work perfectly. Use the sheet as a guide for exploration. Kids can write down their answers (especially great for kids working on their handwriting or cursive) or just talk through the answers. Compare about how the foods they chose – what is similar about them? What is different in regards to the different senses?
Use as a conversation starter
Print out this sheet and leave it on your counter or table to use as a conversation starter at a few meals. Maybe keep a running tally of how many of the foods you explore as a family get a “thumbs up” from each family member. Is there a winner? To add a bit of celebration, create a paper plate award. Kids of ALL ages love winning these.
Assign a “sense” to each family member
Each person creates a list of at least 5 words that could be used to describe this sense (ex. For smell – lemony, woodsy, sharp, stinky, etc.). Keep the lists handy at the dinner table and see who can use the most words (correctly) in one meal.
Become vocabulary chefs
Create running lists for how to describe food using each of the senses and see how many you can come up with in a week (we would love to see these lists – send us a picture at info@tastewisekids.org or message us on Instagram, @tastewise_kids or Facebook, @TasteWiseKids).
Pretend you are a food writer
Use the tasting sheet as the basis for describing a specific food or a meal. Scholastic offers a whole lesson plan on writing a food review for grades 3-8 (the lesson is a lot to do at home but the PDF resources at the end are great).
Here are a few examples of food reviews kids have written to help spark their creativity (please share any food reviews you write! Email to info@tastewisekids.org or message us on Instagram, @tastewise_kids or Facebook, @TasteWiseKids).