For our lesson with the Decatur YMCA preschoolers this week, we picked up carrots and beets from the Decatur Farmers Market. 

To begin the lesson, we read the book “Tops and Bottoms” by Janet Stevens – a story about a clever hare that tricks a lazy bear into using his land and reaping the best harvest from it. The book discusses plants where we eat the “tops” and plants where we eat the “bottoms.”

With the preschoolers, we discussed how often times we eat the “bottoms” or the root vegetables in the winter because they can survive the cold weather with the blanket of soil around them. Then we did a sorting game with flashcards to see if the students could identify the plants where we eat the “bottoms” or the “tops.”

For our taste test, the students helped us spiralize carrots and beets and we added a dressing that they created themselves with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and honey.