veggie activities

Play With Your Food!

FUN WITH FRUIT & VEGGIES

Do a quick Google search for images related to “playing with food,” and this is a page that might pop up. What fun!

A further search might introduce you to the delightful food art and photography of Saxton Freymann, published in a series of children’s picture books in collaboration with Joost Elffers.

If it’s one of those days when you’re stuck in the house with kids—a snow day, or the 40th day of rain, or a day just too hot to leave the air conditioning—get out a carving knife and the fruits and veggies from the crisper and create your own menagerie!

READ A PARSNIP, COLOR A PARSNIP…. DRESS A PARSNIP?!

A fairytale mashup with parsnips, two parsnip coloring pages and a parsnip paper doll to design a wardrobe for…. Sure, parsnips are delicious and nutritious, but who knew they could be so much fun?!

One of the coloring pages below comes from the cover illustration of my picture book Once Upon a Parsnip, illustrated by the wonderful Ben Mann. The other is a portrait of the Divine Ms. P–Penelope Parsnip, the Story Queen’s mascot and traveling companion. Parsnips tend to be a bit pale, but this particular parsnip’s outfit shouldn’t be by the time your kids get through with it! The Penelope Paper Doll is the giddy creation of Vancouver, Washington crafter Miriam Giles. Put on your maker hat and get ready for some parsnip fun!

A WHOLE NEW MEANING FOR “DRESSING YOUR VEGGIES”

If a psychic had told me a year ago that I’d be dressing veggies for a living, I’d have thought, “Hmm. I’m going to be working in a vegetarian restaurant, maybe? Or prepping a salad bar?”

If only life were so simple!

Penelope Parsnip was born in the midst of a Story Queen tour to California. I was two weeks into a six-week road trip presenting young author assemblies in schools and promoting my newest book, Once Upon a Parsnip, in libraries, bookstores and various other venues. I’d been documenting my trip on social media and wanted to continue sharing the tour, but honestly, I was getting tired of posting selfies.

I needed a mascot. Plus, it was getting lonely on the road; I needed a traveling companion!

A QUICK QUIZ ABOUT COUSINS: SUMMER & WINTER SQUASH

Do your kids know the ways that summer squash and winter squash are different? It’s not as easy as it sounds!

Here’s a fun quiz to see how well they (and you!) know your way around squash. The answers contain explanations and additional information.

QUESTIONS

1. Which picture shows summer squash and which shows winter squash?

FUN WITH CRAYONS: A GARDEN SIGN TO COLOR

Graphic artist Gerald G. created a series of sweet garden signs, available for free download at openclipart.org, to glue to a stick and poke in the dirt next to your newly planted seeds in the garden.

You can find his images for zucchini, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, yellow and green string beans, radishes and pumpkins here, in sizes appropriate for a garden sign. I’ve adapted the zucchini sign as a coloring page. (This might be a nice one to watercolor, too.)

Print out a copy for each of your kids and one for you. Share a few fun facts about zucchini while you color or paint. There’s nothing like engaging in creative work together to keep your family close. The family that plays together, stays together!