Produce a Vegetable Puppet Play!

Want a creative way to get your kids to eat more vegetables? This activity is a fun way for your first grader to learn about the health benefits of eating vegetables while creating an fun veggie puppet play about nutrition! Grab your kids, get some veggies from the fridge, and get started!

 What You Need:

• 2 large carrots (cut in ½)
• 3-4 small pieces broccoli (with tops on)
• 3-4 small pieces cauliflower
• 1/4 cup dry kidney beans
• 1/4 cup Ranch dressing or other dip
• safety scissors
• yarn
• Elmer's glue
• finger paint
• white paper

What You Do:

1. Get your kids interested in veggies by reading the following facts, which explain how these veggies help our bodies:
   
   Carrots have Vitamin A which is good for strong eyes.
   Broccoli and Cauliflower both have Vitamin C, which is good for our immune system so we can fight off sickness.
   Kidney beans have potassium, which helps keep good blood pressure to have a healthy heart.
2. Use 1/3 of your stash of carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, and kidney beans to paint instead of brushes! (Be sure to save the other 2/3 for their snack and puppets.) Have your child dip a piece of vegetable into the finger paint and then use it as a brush to make 3-4 paintings. These will be used as backgrounds for a play he'll be putting on with his veggies to teach the family about the health benefits of vegetables. Here are some suggestions:
   
   A painting of each vegetable: kidney bean, cauliflower, broccoli, and carrot
   A painting of a farm with veggies growing in ground
   A painting of the body parts that benefit from vegetables, such as eyes, and heart
   
   Allow all pictures to dry.
3. Have your child use the scissors to cut small pieces of yarn, and glue onto the veggies for hair. Then use markers draw faces. These veggies will be the stars of his puppet play! Allow to dry.
4. While your puppets are drying, have your child wash his hands, then dip the remaining veggies into Ranch dressing for a tasty treat!
5. Use the painted backgrounds of veggies and body parts to form the “set” for a play to be put on by your child. Hang the paintings up against a wall at kid-height or prop them up on a table or countertop. Next, encourage your child to brainstorm about his veggie production. What does he want to tell his audience about vegetables? What kinds of characters are his veggie puppets going to play? Have your child rehearse his puppets in front of his painted "set." Once he is confident about his play, invite the family for a veggie-tastic production!