Vegetable Twister!

Vegetable Twister is a fun active game that helps children to learn the names of different plant parts including roots, leaves, seeds, and fruits. It can be played with children of all ages.

Materials needed
1) A large heavy piece of light colored fabric such as an old fleece blanket or sheet
2) A large plate
3) Permanent Markers - Green, Red, Purple, Brown, Black
4) 16 notecards

Directions to make your Vegetable Twister Board
1) Draw 16 circles on the fabric using the large plate as a stencil

2) Using different colors draw the following vegetables and label them with their name:
-Roots: Carrot, Beet, Potato, Radish
-Leaves: Kale, Lettuce, Spinach, Cabbage
-Fruit: Pumpkin, tomato, Pepper, Cucumber
-Seed: Peas, Beans, Sunflower, Corn
note: Potato is actually a “stem”. You could substitute a turnip.

3) Make 16 playing cards - for example 1) Right Hand Root, 2) Right Foot Root, 3) Left Hand Root, 4) Left Foot Root. Make 4 additional cards each for Leaf, Fruit and Seed Cards.

Playing Vegetable Twister
Have 1-2 children play at a time on the vegetable twister board. Remove shoes before playing.
Shuffle the note cards and have a child read aloud the card selected.

Extensions
This is a great activity to do with “Brown Bag Botany”. Go into the garden and discover how the plants grow and identify the roots, leaves, stems and fruits of the plant. Have children test taste different plant parts. Talk about how eating fruits and vegetables give us energy to do the things we love like run, jump, play, garden, ride bikes, swim, etc.

p.s. Just let me know if you want me to bring my Vegetable Twister Game to your site this summer when I visit.