10 Activities You Can Do with Whole Grains
Whole grains are a central part of a healthy, balanced diet. As a result, there’s a wide range of activities you can do with students to learn about grains and make connections to literacy, math, science and social studies. This list compiles a handful of the many possibilities of exploring whole grains!
Make your own tortillas: In this lesson, students experience an example of how food is processed and learn about the tradition of making corn tortillas.
Conduct a sourdough science experiment: Students can make their own sourdough starter as a way to learn about fermentation and microbes and to practice data collection.
Grow and process grains to explore ancient history: Grains are a fantastic way to connect agriculture, food and history. Students can learn about the origins of agriculture and growing grains and then grow or grind their own grains. Possible lessons include: Growing Grains lesson (3rd grade), Growing, Grinding, Eating and Learning about Grain lesson, and Wheat: Ancient and Ageless lesson (6th-8th grades).
Whole grain sensory table: Put rice, wheatberries, oats, or another grain in a tub with some scoops and toys and voila, you have a whole grain sensory table!
Conduct a taste test with cooked samples of grains that students are less familiar with: Grains that you might want to include are: millet, quinoa, teff, sorghum, buckwheat, bulgur, or amaranth. Many of these grains are eaten more frequently in other cultures and also are ancient grains, so a taste test like this could be incorporated into a social studies lesson about culture or history.
Gluten science experiment: Use this experiment baking glutinous and gluten-free items to help students learn about the role of gluten in food.
Cook with whole grains to learn about other cultures: Possible dishes include: injera, corn or flour tortillas, rye bread, buckwheat noodles, crepes, naan; the possibilities are nearly endless!
Whole grains vs refined grains: Learn how grains are refined and the nutritional benefits of whole grains. This lesson is geared toward 2nd or 3rd grade while this lesson can be adapted to K-5 students.
Read One Grain of Rice and learn about exponential growth: This lesson uses a story about rice to start teaching students about growth.
Weave a corn dolly: Weaving wheat played a role in the harvest traditions of Ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans as well as more recently in Europe and Britain. Wheat sheaths can be found online from craft stores or from this farm to school site.
