Citrus Season, Part II
Tomorrow brings the last day of Lunar New Year, a time when citrus is symbolic of celebration in many cultures. Many markets have beautiful varieties available right now, which offer a sweet (and sour, and a little bitter) opportunity for learning.
We see lots of information in the early childhood space about sensory “issues.” What many parents and teachers aren’t appreciating is that early childhood is the time for sensory development and integration, and that this type of consolidation happens through experiences.
Adults often perceive a problem when this developmental work is not already completely and harmoniously integrated. Of course it is not complete!
Your young child is in the process of developing their senses. We interpret the world through our senses; they are intricately and intimately linked with our intelligence as well as our survival.
Your child needs your help in accessing experiences for sensory development, and in making sense of them.
That sounds very pedagogical, but it is not. Instead of considering all those ‘sensory’ activities out there, turn to the world around you in a more conscious way. Experiences with our senses bring a sense of awe, wonder, and fulfillment to children and adults alike.
Food preparation is one of the best avenues for sensory experience that we can offer young children. Think of your own sensory experiences of preparing food. All of our primary senses are engaged - touch, taste, smell, sound, vision. When I say ‘citrus,’ I can immediately conjure sense-based impressions - tartness and sweetness, vivid colors, bright and sharp fragrances, the weight of a lemon, the feel of a grapefruit peel.
I can feel all of this, as an adult, because I have developed these memories in my mind through repeated experience. Your child, however, does not yet have this capacity. They need your help in accessing these experiences in an organized way, and in deepening their meaning through the use of language.
So here are two simple experiences with citrus that support sensory integration. You can find two more experiences here.
Citrus Tasting
Preparation:
Choose a few different types of citrus to bring home, ideally with your child. It is ideal to have a combination of some fruits that are familiar, and some that are new. Suggestions: clementine (familiar), lemon (familiar), grapefruit (may be familiar but your child has not necessarily tasted one yet), navel orange, cara cara orange, blood orange / sanguinelli (possibly new to your child), Meyer lemon (likely new).
Create a tasting space with your child. You will be cutting or peeling the citrus for this experience.
Process:
Select your citrus with your child, choosing one of each fruit you’d like to include in the tasting from your fruit bowl or refrigerator. Name each fruit as you go, and invite your child to say the name with you.
As you choose your fruits, take the time to share observations. Feel their weight and texture, note their size and colors. Smell for scents.
Choose one fruit at a time to cut or peel and segment. Name the fruit again as you do so. As you open the fruit, comment on what you notice. Ask your child what they see. Colors, textures, scent, seeds, juice, the thickness of the pith, etc.
Place the cut or segments on a plate. Do not eat yet - your child is able to wait for you to add more fruits to the tasting.
Complete the process with your remaining fruits, taking your time to make observations.
Once your fruits are all prepared, sit down with your child. Ask your child which they would like to try first. You share what type you would like to try first. Be sure to return to names - if your child says, “the pink one,” affirm back, “you’d like to try the cara cara orange? Wonderful. Let’s taste the cara cara orange.” As you taste each type, describe it - the variations of sweet and sour, and at times bitter. Note any seeds and remove them if they are still present. Look at the seeds closely. Inhale the fragrance of the citrus as you go. Take your time with each.
When complete (meaning, you both feel satisfied with the experience, not when all the fruit is eaten!), take a moment to appreciate the tasting and summarize. “We had a citrus tasting this morning! We tasted three different types of citrus today. We tasted a pomelo, a mandarinquat, and a clementine. They each had their own taste, and scent, and colors. Tomorrow, we could have another tasting. Maybe we will include a new citrus fruit tomorrow.”
Repeat! Remember, children come to understanding through repetition.
Citrus Juicing
Prepare:
Create a work space with your child - a small bowl with an orange cut in half, a glass orange juicer or a wooden dowel juicer with a bowl to catch juice, a spoon for removing seeds, a refuse bowl for seeds and juiced fruit, a glass for juice, a table mat to protect your space, a paper towel for wiping.
Process:
Model the process for your child. When using a glass juicer, show your child how you grasp one of the orange halves in their dominant hand, and hold the juicer in your non-dominant hand, with a firm grip. Align the center of the fruit over the center of the juicer. If using a wooden dowel juicer, reverse this - the juicer is best used in your child’s dominant hand, and you will need to show your child how to align their hands over the juice bowl as they squeeze. Show your child how you twist your wrist and hold the fruit firmly against the juicer, using your strength. Observe that you are creating juice, slowly but surely! Continue to show your child that you keep squeezing to juice the sides and base of the fruit, down to the pith. This is important! You want to demonstrate that this takes time.
Pour the juice into the glass, even if it is just a small quantity. Taste the juice with appreciation.
Invite your child to continue. At times, they will want to stop when there is still a good amount of pulp left to juice. Encourage them to keep going in a positive way: “I know you are eager to taste your juice. Let’s see if there is still pulp left - we want to find as much juice as we can in this beautiful orange.” Again, this is important - you want to support your child in appreciating the process, not hurrying through to the outcome, with some sense of anticipation.
When ready, your child can taste the juice. At this stage, some children love to drink the glass; some do not. Some barely want to taste at all! Do not pressure them. If they don’t care to drink it, ask them if they would like to offer it to a family member or save it to try at another time. If they do taste it, ask them how it tastes, if they enjoy it, if it tastes like anything they’ve tried before.
Scaffold your child through the clean-up process. Your child can place bowls and the juicer next to the sink one by one, and then rinse them and load them into the dishwasher (or scrub them, if you are willing!).
Repeat! Again, this is the key. Offer different types of citrus and discuss the differences in texture, scent, color, taste, etc.
Enjoy!