Kindergarten have been inquiring into the central idea, ‘Food products go through a process of change before they are consumed’. To start the unit the boys were given a provocation in which they had to categorise and group a range of food products. A healthy discussion ensued as each group explained their grouping and related thinking. This also led to some wonderful questions being posed for our class ‘Wonder Wall’.

A range of picture books were used to explore this unit, with a favourite being, ‘The Gingerbread Man’. Before reading the text, the boys arrived in the morning to find a mysterious clue that had been left by The Gingerbread Man.

Tee-hee, Tee-hee

I ran away fast!

Bet you can’t catch me!

If you find me, I’ll give you a treat!

Go to the place where you run

and jump with your feet!

The boys had a great time following clues all around the school. The hunt ended back in the Kindy room, where the boys found a note saying, “You found me!” along with a batch of yummy Gingerbread Men to eat! We then discussed where ginger comes from and thought about other types of food that grow in the ground. We went for a walk to our school vegetable garden to check on the potatoes that we had planted earlier in the year. We are hoping to harvest these to make some hot chips!   

To incorporate the Science skill of observation, we thought about what would have happened if the Gingerbread Man had swum across the river instead of jumping on the fox’s back. We then used a real Gingerbread Man and put him in some water to test our theories. We observed him over a 10-minute and 30-minute time frame and recorded our observations.

Following this activity, the boys participated in a Design Thinking challenge, in which they were required to build a raft to help the Gingerbread Man cross the river and avoid the fox! Their raft was to be made using pipe cleaners and straws and needed to hold a Lego person for 10 seconds without sinking. Lots of fun was had!

Literacy development linked to the unit was supported through setting up a ‘small world’ sensory tray. Small world play involves creating a scene, along with figurines/puppets from the story, for the boys to play with and practise retelling the story. It is a fabulous activity for language building. The boys are imagining, and while doing so are talking out loud and using key vocabulary linked to the text.

To gain a further understanding of how products change the boys experienced a variety of hands on activities such as damper and butter making. The boys learnt to create flow charts to show the process products go through. They were also exposed to procedure writing through practical activities such as making fairy bread and lemonade.

A class shop was set up to support this unit of inquiry, as well as literacy and mathematics learning experiences. As the boys engaged with the shop there was so much learning taking place; rich oral language development, social skills, imagination and creativity, writing practice as we made shopping lists and menus, maths skills and understanding money, and exploring the world around us through familiar roles (shopkeeper, cashier, chef, waiter, customer). The list could go on!

It has been exciting to see the boys start to think about food products, where they come from and the process of change.

Belinda Smallhorn – Kindergarten Teacher