The first step in the Friends for Life program is F for Feelings. We have been working on recognizing the signs of emotion in our own bodies and reading the emotions in other people.

This past week, we have been working on R for Relaxing. We have been learning what our muscles feel like when they are tense and when they are relaxed.

Another practice mentioned in the program is being mindful. We have continued our mindful breathing practice and just began to explore mindful eating. It is important to eat slowly and appreciate what you are eating.

We brainstormed adjectives to describe the taste and texture of food. We then put those words into practice as we sampled 7 types of apples and 5 types of pears. Each morsel was placed on our tongue, savoured and then slowly chewed.

The most popular pear was the Bartlett pear.

The most popular apples were Fuji and Granny Smith.

We also began wondering why some apples turned brown faster than others and why apples from McDonalds seem to last for weeks without turning brown. I sense an experiment about to happen…

I think that we also discovered that eating is also a very social activity. There was a lot of discussion between classmates about which apple or pear they liked best and why. Some of them were intrigued to find out that the fruit they liked best because it was sweet, was not liked by their friend who thought it was bland.

In honour of Turn Off the Screen Week, I invite you to cook with your child and sit down to dinner together. Talk about what you are eating. Where did it come from? Is it in season? Is it local? What does it taste like? Do you like it? Why or why not?

More information and ideas can be found on our “Food & Cooking” page.