Objectives Participant will:

1. Children will explain one reason winter greens are healthy for them. 2. Children will explain that winter greens come from a plant that grows in the ground. 3. Children will experience winter greens using their senses of feel, sound, smell, and sight. 4. Children will make and eat a simple, nutritious recipe using winter greens.

Total Time: 30-40 minutes

Required Materials:

Parts of a Plant Chart

Eye Spy word search for each child (optional)

Veggie Taster Award – one for each child

Several varieties of winter greens, including kale, Swiss chard, collard greens, mustard greens, arugula, etc.

Ingredients for recipes and materials for the food demonstration

Utah Food $ense required paperwork for the program

Preparation Required:

Review lesson plan

Gather ingredients and materials needed to demonstrate the recipes

Make copies of recipes and anything else you want children to take home

Make copies of all the required paperwork for the lesson

LESSON PLAN

Introduction Time: 2-4 minutes

Show children examples of winter greens. (Swiss chard, kale, arugula, collard greens).

Ask them if they know what it is.

Tell them that today we’ll be learning about how winter greens are grown from tiny seeds into yummy food that’s good for us.

Objective 1: Children will explain one reason winter greens are healthy for them. Time: 5-10 minutes

Ask the children if they know what makes winter greens special.

Hand out ‘Eye’ Spy puzzles (one for each child).

Explain that winter greens are high in vitamin A and that vitamin A is good for your eyes.

Tell them to use their eyes to find four kinds of winter greens in the word search puzzle. They are listed on the side of the puzzle to help them find all four of them.

Objective 2: Children will explain that winter greens come from plants that grow in the ground.

Time: 5 minutes

Show children the ‘Parts of a Plant’ chart. Explain that vegetables are plants that grow from seeds. If we put the seeds in the ground and give them plenty of sunlight and water, they will grow into more plants. We don’t always eat the entire plant. We usually eat just a part of the plant.

Describe each of the six parts of the plant.

Ask the children which part of the plant they think winter greens are. o Winter greens are the leaf part of the plant. o Some times we even call them leafy greens instead of winter greens. o Some vegetables grow best when the weather is really hot, like tomatoes or

cucumbers. But winter greens grow best when the weather is very cool, even cold. That is why we call them winter greens.

Explain that some greens have big flat leafs like collards. Some have curly leaves like kale. Some are really big and some are small like arugula.

Objective 3: Children will experience the winter greens using their senses of feel, sound, smell, and sight. Time: 10 minutes

Pass around examples of winter greens.

Encourage the children to smell, touch, listen, and look at each winter green item as it is passed around class.

Ask the children: What do winter greens smell like? Does the smell remind you of anything? What do they look like? What do they feel like? Does the feel remind you of anything? When you tear them, what do they sound like? What shape are they? Does their shape remind you of anything?

Remind the children that eating winter greens or any food is an experience that can involve all of the senses.

Objective 4: Children will make and eat a simple, nutritious recipe using wintergreens

Time: 10-15 minutes

Tell the class now that we have learned all about winter greens, we are going to taste them.

Pick a recipe or two from the handout to share with the class.

Demonstrate the recipe(s) in front of the class using as many students as you can. If you are short on time prepare some or all of recipe ahead of time.

Serve the samples.

Commend the children for trying the vegetable.

Conclusion: Time: 2 minutes

Ask the class:

How do winter greens help our body?

What part of the plant does a winter green come from?

How did you like the taste of the winter greens?

This material was funded by USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – SNAP. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)

provides nutrition assistance to people with low income. It can help you buy nutritious foods for a better diet. To find out more, contact 1-800-221-

5689 or visit online at http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/. In accordance with Federal Law and U.S. Department of Agriculture policy, this institution is

prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, religion, political beliefs or disability. To file a complaint of

discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or call (800)795-3572.

‘Eye’ Spy

VEGGIE TASTERS AWARD

VEGGIE TASTERS AWARD This certificate is awarded to YOU

For tasting and learning about winter greens!

This certificate is awarded to YOU

For tasting and learning about winter greens!

Fun winter greens Facts

Winter greens are the leafy part of the plant

Winter greens are high in vitamin A so they help us see

Winter greens taste delicious!

Great winter greens Recipes

1 small onion, chopped ¼ cup vegetable broth 1 bunch kale (or collards) ½ cup walnuts ½ cup water 1 tablespoon minced garlic 2 tablespoons soy sauce Place onion and broth in skillet and sauté onion. Rinse kale, strip leaf from stem, and cut in bite-size pieces. Add kale to skillet and cook until kale is tender, 7-10 minutes. Place walnuts, water, garlic, and soy sauce in blender and blend until smooth. Pour sauce over kale and stir to blend.

1 head kale, washed and thoroughly dried 1 tablespoon olive oil Sea salt, for sprinkling Preheat the oven to 300ºF. Remove stems from the kale and cut kale into bite-size pieces. Lay on baking sheet and toss with olive oil and salt. Bake until crisp, turning leaves halfway through, about 20 minutes.

This material was funded by USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – SNAP. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides nutrition assistance to people with low income. It can

help you buy nutritious foods for a better diet. To find out more, contact 1-800-221-5689 or visit online at http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/. In accordance with Federal Law and U.S. Department of Agriculture policy,

this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, religion, political beliefs or disability. To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil

Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or call (800)795-3572