Toddler Time at Home: Love Bowl

Create a “Love Bowl” fruit salad! This ScholarShare 529 Toddler Time at Home activity is a sweet way of expressing love and care for your little one by making a healthy and thoughtful snack to enjoy together! Your toddler will engage in an array of developmental learning opportunities while having fun and spending quality time with you – nourishing both their body and heart!

1. Prep all supplies and cooking space. Display all ingredients and cooking tools at your child’s level and separate the adult tools as needed. Think of tools that can be used safely or with minimal adult support. For example, your child can explore using a popsicle stick or plastic chopper to cut. Think about what kinds of tools would be appropriate for your child’s fine motor skills, such as a scooper with a wide handle or even small cups with no handles.

2. Gather fruits to put in your Love Bowl. Take time with your little learner to explore the different fruits you have selected. Ask open-ended questions such as, “What fruits do you see?” “What colors do you see? “What do they feel/taste like?” “What shapes do you see?” Examine textures and sizes together.

3. Observe fruit sizes and shapes with your child. Which fruit might you chop, smash or scoop into your bowl? Model descriptive language such as chop, squish, sweet, sour, crunchy and/or juicy! Have your child try scooping and placing items into the bowl, and encourage them to count pieces of fruit. Take a look at your bowl and decide if you have filled it enough to begin mixing and stirring.

4. Stir the bowl and enjoy! Use a stirring tool or spoon and encourage your child to gently stir or mix the fruit salad! Clear your cooking space and prepare your Love Bowl meal or picnic time to enjoy together!

• For older learners: Use this cooking experience to create a recipe by having  your child write down or draw and record the ingredients. With adult support, write the ingredients that your child says or write the recipe large enough that your child can re-write what they see.
• Find tools or containers that have heart shapes as a way to connect to the theme and spread the love!
• Create conversation! Tell stories and sing songs while making your Love Bowl.

Early learners are ready to begin cooking and get involved in the process of making simple meals! Through cooking activities and related traditions, your child can connect many developmental learning opportunities at the same time as building healthy relationships with friends and family. Cooking together also promotes healthy routines, language development, fine motor skills and more! To start, reading a book together about love and fruits is a fun way to build connections between love, happiness and health.

Recommended Reading:  

• Jamberry by Bruce Degen
• The I Love You Book by Todd Parr
• The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
• My Heart Fills With Happiness by Monique Gray Smith
• Full Full Full of Love by Trish Cooke
• Snuggle Puppy by Sandra Boynton

Preschool Learning Foundations Standards (Social Emotional Learning and Visual Arts)

Age 48 Months:

• Interact with familiar adults comfortably and competently, especially in familiar settings.
• Comfortably interact with familiar adults in play or problem-solving, ask questions or communicate about their experiences, cooperate with instructions or demonstrate skills to the familiar adult.

Age 60 Months:

• Participate in longer and more reciprocal interactions with familiar adults and take greater initiative in social interaction.
• Take increasing initiative in interacting with familiar adults through conversation – suggesting a shared activity or asking for the adult’s assistance, and cooperate readily.