Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten

Create a Color Book
Contributed by Elz Spofford of the Notre Dame Children's Center in Wenham, Massachusetts.

This activity helps students discover healthy foods in all colors of the rainbow. The Color Book is an extension of the Pot of Gold Activity in the Chef Combo™ Teacher Guide.

Materials
• A prism or a small mirror placed in a glass of water
• Gold colored planter or big soup pot
• A nutritious food for every color of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet (see chart below for ideas)
• Magazines with pictures of food
• A sunny day
• Safety scissors
• Glue
• Large sheets of paper, each labeled with a different color

What To Do
1. Tell the children you found the pot of gold at the end of the food rainbow. Let them guess what is in the pot.

2. Have the children look at the walls and ceiling for a clue. Put the prism or mirror in a glass of water. Place the prism/mirror in direct sunlight. Keep adjusting it until the sun shines on it and reflects a rainbow on the wall or ceiling. When the children spot the rainbow, have them call out the colors they see.

3. As the children call out the colors, take the corresponding food out of the pot. Pass the foods around. Explain that the foods are very valuable because they are nutritious. Nutritious foods help children grow and stay healthy.

4. Using one rainbow color at a time, ask the children to name nutritious foods that are that color. Then allow students to search through magazines for foods that match the color on the paper and glue them in place.

5. When students have completed all possible colors, assemble the pages into their Color Book.

Color Foods
Red:
apples, watermelon, strawberries, red potato, tomato, strawberry/raspberry yogurt, strawberry ice cream

Orange:
American cheese, cheddar cheese, oranges, apricots, nectarines, carrots, pumpkins, squash, orange sherbet

Yellow:
Swiss cheese, butter, bananas, lemons, corn, spaghetti squash, banana pudding, banana yogurt

Green:
limes, green grapes, pears, celery, cucumbers, lettuce, green peppers, broccoli, peas, mint ice cream

Blue:
blue cheese, blueberry yogurt, blueberries

Indigo(bluish-black):
plums, eggplant, grape juice

Violet:
boysenberry yogurt, red flame grapes, plums, radicchio, red cabbage

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