Virtual Program: Food Art for Kids

 Food Art for Kids was a virtual program I was really excited about doing, but it definitely took the most work and prep out of all the virtual programs thus far. It was a challenge and out of my element, but I think it came together well and it's always good to challenge ourselves as librarians and educators. 

Since there were so many great ideas to choose from on what food art to make, I knew I wanted to make sure I included really easy options and more difficult ones so this could be for kids of all ages and for parents who wanted to give it a try. I also wanted to narrow it down to a theme and came up with the idea of food based on children's books. This theme made the program so much fun to show. 

There are so many examples online and some really great holiday ideas too. 

I started off explaining a little bit about food art and how you can play around with food shapes, get your kids to eat healthy foods, and make a nice surprise for snacks and parties. 

The books I used to base around my food art were The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, The Cat in the Hat, We're Going on a Bear Hunt, and Rainbow Fish. All classics and all fun to use as inspiration to make some food art. 

Since it is around Halloween, I also added a simple pumpkin food art craft that uses a clementine and celery. 

This was a virtual program that allowed me to try something I would have avoided doing for an in-person program because it involves food and I wouldn't want to worry about food allergies and germs when food is involved. 

Preschool Picasso: ABC's

This was a good start for Preschool Picasso for the year and we had a couple of new kids attend. I read the classic, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom for our alphabet theme. The kids enjoyed hearing this one and paid good attention to the story.

For our crafts, we made a Chicka Chicka Boom Boom coconut tree using construction paper, paint, and foam letters. This was a perfect craft for the group to be able to use paint and it still go along with the theme.

For our second craft, we wrote out our names on a cardstock worksheet and then decorated the first letter of our name with different small die-cut pieces. This allowed the kids to practice their name and letters.

I think both of these crafts tied in well and were well-received. We even had time to read a Curious George story at the end for those who were done with their craft.