Making a Plant Salad Activity

Plant Activities for Preschool

Did you know that you can learn about all the parts of a plant by eating them? Think about it. We eat the stem of the celery plant, the (toasted) seeds from a pumpkin, the root of a carrot, the leaves of spinach, and the flower of the cauliflower. You might need to do some homework before you’re ready to try this! Your salad should include a plant stem, leaves, roots, flower, and seeds.

Ages/Grades:

Preschool, Kindergarten

Learning Domains:

Science Knowledge and Skills

Materials Needed:

Stems, leaves, roots, flowers and seeds from your choice of vegetables

Set the Stage:

Cooking activity for whole group or small group

Making a Plant Salad:

Use all 5 parts of a plant to create a salad. Invite families to bring in some of the ingredients.

Wash the ingredients – Provide bowls of water for children to wash the ingredients. Talk to children about why these items need to be washed.

Prepare the ingredients – Use the words chop, slice, tear, cut, etc. to describe the actions. The most fun for the children is to tear the lettuce or spinach leaves. Adults should closely supervise if children are going to do any cutting.

Combine the ingredients – Children can take turns adding additional ingredients and “tossing” the salad.

Eat and Enjoy! - When you’re finished, everyone should be able to say they ate all the parts of a plant!