A food and nutrition activities theme is an important part of your preschool program. As a matter of fact, the best way to teach preschoolers about healthy eating is by example and exposure.
Children are much more likely to try a new food if they see trusted adults enjoying it first. They’re also more likely to try a new food if they’ve been exposed to it multiple times and in various ways.
Preschoolers and toddlers seek sensory activities because it’s a developmentally appropriate way for their brains to learn and take in information.
Try adding this fruit and veggie sensory bin for preschoolers to your food and nutrition activities. It is one form of exposure to healthy foods!
Food and Nutrition Activities Theme
Teaching a food preschool theme to preschoolers can potentially have a lifelong impact on wellbeing and relationships with food. Moreover, exposure early and often to healthy foods can make a difference!
Allowing children to have a say over what goes on their plate–even their pretend plate–will increase the odds of them having positive interactions with food. The key is building up some excitement for new foods so that when you set them down in front of something new, chances are they’ll at least be willing to try a bite.
This food and nutrition sensory bin is an easy-going, low-key way to introduce picky eaters to new fruits and veggies. Consequently, I always include this sensory bin in my food and nutrition activities. And of course, it is always a hit!
Because we can never have too many developmentally appropriate, hands-on activities for our preschoolers, I created these Food and Nutrition Literacy and Math Centers. These will help pack your food and nutrition theme with bushels of learning and fun!
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Fruit and Veggie Sensory Bin
Teaching food and nutrition activities in preschool is an easy way to introduce your preschooler to different foods while also teaching about healthy eating. Be sure to read all the ways to use this fruit and veggie sensory bin and grab your free printable fruit and veggie cards at the end of this post.
Materials
- dyed rice filler
- fruit and vegetable counters
- free printable fruit and veggie nomenclature cards
For this sensory bin, I used small fruit and vegetable counters. If you don’t have any you can also use regular play food. You just won’t be able to fit as many into the sensory bin.
This post may contain affiliate links, which means that at no cost to you, I may earn a small sum if you click through and make a purchase.
What You Get
The FREE printable at the end of this post includes six pages of full color fruits and vegetables. There are four cards per page for easy printing. They can also be used as nomenclature cards.
The Set-Up
Your little ones can help you do this!
First, grab your plastic bin or your sensory table and fill it with the dyed rice or whatever filling you choose to use (colored rice, sprinkles, beans etc.). Then, place your fruits and vegetables counters or food toys in the bin. Finally, add the fruit and veggie cards around the perimeter of the bin.
I grabbed the pictured fruit and vegetable cards for free from a Montessori site, but they’re now a paid product. So, I’ve made my own cards to offer for free at the end of this post, but they do look a little different from those pictured.
Play Food
Play food has endless use value for counting, sorting, and of course play eating! We love these play food options, the food groups practice, and how they relate to learning about healthy eating habits.
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Melissa & Doug Food Groups – 21 Wooden Pieces and 4…
- HEALTHY PRETEND PLAY: Melissa & Doug Food Groups Wooden Play Food is a sturdy wooden food set that…
- FUN AND EDUCATIONAL: This play food for kids set helps children plan a well-balanced meal. It helps…
−$8.40 $19.59 
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Melissa & Doug Let’s Play House! Grocery Cans Play Food…
- PLAY-FOOD CANS THAT OPEN AND CLOSE: The Melissa & Doug Let’s Play House Grocery Cans is a pretend…
- STURDY CONSTRUCTION: The cans in this play-food set are made from sturdy and colorful cardboard. The…
−$6.10 $11.89
Hifunwu 73 PCS Cutting Play Food Toy for Kids Kitchen…
- Various Realistic Play Foods: Totally 35 different kinds of play food toys can be separated into 73…
- Safe Premium Material: Our cutting play food sets are made of high-quality environmentally friendly…
Melissa & Doug Food Fun Combine & Dine Dinners – Red -…
- 17-piece play set of durable realistic play food
- Includes ribs, drumstick, lamb chops, salmon, baked beans, cauliflower, green beans, carrots, mac…
$23.99
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Melissa & Doug Slice and Toss Salad Play Set – 52…
- 50+-piece wooden and felt play food salad set with reusable double-sided menu
- Includes greens, vegetables, proteins, and toppings
−$12.00 $27.99
Learning Resources New Sprouts Healthy Foods Basket…
- KIDS PLAY FOOD SET: Encourage early dramatic role play, build vocabulary, and model mealtime…
- CRUSH-RESISTANT PLAY FOOD FOR YEARS OF PLAY: High-quality play food is made from a soft rubber-like…
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Fruit Sensory Bin
Healthy eating preschool activities are a great choice for establishing good habits and a food and nutrition sensory bin is a playful and non-forceful way to get young children interested in trying new foods. While they won’t literally be tasting anything in the sensory bin, simple exposure to healthy foods–even in a play setting–will help your little one have a positive experience with food.
Introduce the Fruit and Veggie Sensory Bin
When you first offer a colorful food and nutrition themed sensory bin like this one, your preschoolers are going to want to jump in hands-first and mix everything up! That’s the fun of a sensory bin, right?
Inevitably, your preschoolers will want to listen to the rice scattering about the bin as they feel it running through their fingers. They’ll look at the cards in the bin, or completely disregard them. They may even want to see if the fruit and veggie counters bounce when they drop them.
These are all expected behaviors and completely normal.
Offer Colored Construction Paper for Color Sorting
Once your preschoolers have had a chance to explore the bin on their own, you can then try this activity. Scoop up the fruit or vegetable and pair it with the matching color of construction paper.
I actually just grabbed some foam pieces from the craft closet and watched the preschoolers automatically start sorting without me saying a thing to them! Funny how kids are natural-born mathematicians!
This is great for teaching colors to both toddlers and preschoolers. While your preschooler or toddler is sorting the colored fruit and veggies onto the construction paper, you can say things like:
You have a strawberry. What color is a strawberry? I like the color red. Where will you put your strawberry? Do you see other items that are also red?
Use the Printable Cards to Make Matches
The second activity will involve the printable pictures of foods – the fruit and veggie cards. You can challenge your toddlers or preschoolers to make matches. For example, lay out the printable banana card and invite your preschoolers to search the bin for all the matching banana counters.
My son was delighted to discover he could precariously dangle the banana counters off the scoop I offered with the bin. The scoop is just a formula scoop, by the way. It’s nothing special except that formula scoops are just the perfect size for scooping and pouring rice fillers in sensory bins.
How to Engage Children at a Sensory Bin
While I like to add some pieces to a sensory bin that offer a little learning direction, much of what we accomplish during sensory play is child-led.
Here are some things to think about as you observe sensory play:
- How is the child handling the sensory materials?
- Is the child using fine motor muscles while engaged in sensory play? (Is the child using fingertips versus hold fist?)
- Does the child find sensory play agreeable?
- Does the child explore all the materials offered, or does the child gravitate to one thing in the bin?
- Does the child talk during sensory play?
- How can you build conversation with the child during sensory play?
Food and Nutrition Books
These food and nutrition books promote healthy snacks and food items that help us stay healthy!
- Used Book in Good Condition
- Verdick, Elizabeth (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
$9.99
Sale
My Magical Foods – Get Picky Eaters to Choose Veggies…
- Hardcover Book
- Becky Cummings (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
−$3.76 $15.23
Sale
I Can Eat a Rainbow (Children’s Book Collection)
- Rose, Olena (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 29 Pages – 02/28/2021 (Publication Date) – Independently published (Publisher)
−$1.19 $10.72
Sale
Food from Farms (World of Farming)
- Dickmann, Nancy (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 24 Pages – 02/20/2019 (Publication Date) – Heinemann/Raintree (Publisher)
−$1.03 $6.96
Yummy!: Good Food Makes Me Strong!
- Rotner, Shelley (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 32 Pages – 03/20/2018 (Publication Date) – Holiday House (Publisher)
$7.99
Sale
- Ehlert, Lois (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 28 Pages – 04/01/1996 (Publication Date) – Clarion Books (Publisher)
−$2.02 $7.97
Food Sensory Play
Encourage healthy eating habits with these brilliant preschool activities!
They’re a fresh approach for teaching your young learners all about good nutrition. They also include important learning concepts within a healthy eating theme.
Incorporate these food-tastic hands-on activities into your Food and Nutrition theme:
- Preschool Math Activities for a Food and Nutrition Theme
- Lettuce Process Art- A Food and Nutrition Craft
- Veggie Garden Playdough Invitation to Play
- Teach Healthy Eating with Process Art
- Food Games and Printables for Preschoolers
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$9.00
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- Food and Nutrition Activity Pack
$5.00
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Fruit and Vegetable Activities
Adding these fruit and veggie cards to your sensory bin will give your preschoolers and toddlers one more point of contact in developing healthy eating habits. But that’s not all you can do with these cards!
Try these other awesome activities using the free fruit and veggie cards:
- Matching Fruits and Vegetables – Print out two copies and invite your preschooler to make matches while the cards are face-up on the table.
- Describing Fruits and Vegetables – Have your preschooler select a card and describe the food. If your preschooler struggles for details, ask prompting questions.
- Fruit and Vegetable Riddles – Lay out the matching cards for everyone to see. Secretly select a fruit or vegetable and then give clues about it for your preschooler to guess.
- Fruit and Vegetable Sorting – Teach your preschooler which foods are fruits and which are vegetables and then sort the cards accordingly.
- Play Concentration – Print two copies of these cards and play a traditional game of Concentration or Memory.
- Play Go Fish – Print two copies of these cards and play a game of Go Fish.
Grab your FREE printable here!
Grab your FREE fruit and veggie cards here to add to your Preschool Food and Nutrition Theme.
Simply fill out the form below to receive your free printables!
Fruit and Veggie Sensory Bin for Preschoolers
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Active Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Difficulty: easy
Preschoolers and toddlers seek sensory activities because it’s a developmentally appropriate way for their brains to learn and take in information.
Try adding this fruit and veggie sensory bin to your food and nutrition activities. Your preschoolers and toddlers will get sensory benefits and exposure to a variety of fruits and vegetables.
This vibrant, fun food sensory bin can set your preschoolers on a path to healthy nutrition choices as they grow.
Print this sheet to file away with your printable fruit and veggie cards. This sheet does not include the cards. The cards must be downloaded from the post itself.
Materials
- Dyed rice filler (or dry filler of your choice)
- Fruit and vegetable counters
- Free printable fruit and veggie nomenclature cards (download from the post)
- Sensory bin or table
Instructions
- Download the free printable included in the post.
- Print on heavy card stock.
- Laminate for added durability (optional).
- Cut apart the cards.
- Fill bin with colored rice (or other filler).
- Place your fruits and vegetables counters or food toys in the bin.
- Add the fruit and veggie cards around the perimeter of the bin.
- Invite your preschoolers to play and explore in the fruit and veggie sensory bin.
*See the NOTES section below for a variety of activities using the free fruit and veggie cards.
Notes
ACTIVITIES USING FREE FRUIT AND VEGGIE CARDS
- Matching Fruits and Vegetables - Print out two copies and invite your preschooler to make matches while the cards are face-up on the table.
- Describing Fruits and Vegetables - Have your preschooler select a card and describe the food. If your preschooler struggles for details, ask prompting questions.
- Fruit and Vegetable Riddles - Lay out the matching cards for everyone to see. Secretly select a fruit or vegetable and then give clues about it for your preschooler to guess.
- Fruit and Vegetable Sorting - Teach your preschooler which foods are fruits and which are vegetables and then sort the cards accordingly.
- Play Concentration - Print two copies of these cards and play a traditional game of Concentration or Memory.
- Play Go Fish - Print two copies of these cards and play a game of Go Fish.
Recommended Products
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Sarah Punkoney, MAT
I’m Sarah, an educator turned stay-at-home-mama of five! I’m the owner and creator of Stay At Home Educator, a website about intentional teaching and purposeful learning in the early childhood years. I’ve taught a range of levels, from preschool to college and a little bit of everything in between. Right now my focus is teaching my children and running a preschool from my home. Credentials include: Bachelors in Art, Masters in Curriculum and Instruction.
stayathomeeducator.com/
