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HANDA’S SURPRISE EXTENSION ACTIVITIES

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Handa’s Surprise by Eileen Browne is a lovely, colourful book.  It follows the adventure Handa has of taking seven delicious fruits to her friend in the next African village and what happens to them along the way.  My children love this book and it has been used to expand their vocabularies of fruit, animals, and colours over the past few years.  They never grow tired of it.

Green grocer's, shopping for fruit, Handa's Surprise book activities, photo

Trying new foods with Handa’s Surprise

One of the discussions that took place during one reading was about the various fruits that Handa has.  “What is that?” “What does it taste like?”  This provided a nice segway into a little learning adventure of the senses for our family.

We wandered down to our village Green Grocers to see if we could find any of the fruits that were in Handa’s Surprise.

Green grocer's, shopping for fruit, Handa's Surprise book activities, photo

Tristan found the pineapples and took a photo of them.

Kallista was very please with the purchase, and found the page of the book that spoke of the pineapple.

Green grocer's, shopping for fruit, Handa's Surprise book activities, photo

We took our pineapple home and Phil cut it for our dessert that evening.  The children enjoyed exploring the prickly feel of the fruit, they guessed what colour it would be on the inside, and they liked the refreshing aroma of the flesh.

Using the 5 senses to explore fruit, Handa's Surprise book activities, children's snacks, Crystal's Tiny Treasures, photo

Then it was time for them to taste the tangy fruit for themselves.  As you can see, they both really enjoyed fresh pineapple once they became used to the tanginess!

How to get kids to try new foods, book extension activities, photo

This activity was such a hit with our children that we continued to explore some more of the fruit in Handa’s Surprise.  Next up was an avocado.

Using the 5 senses to explore fruit, Handa's Surprise book activities, children's snacks, Crystal's Tiny Treasures, photo

It rolls, it’s soft yet firm.  Cool to the touch.  Good first impressions!  What does it look like inside?

Using the 5 senses to explore fruit, Handa's Surprise book activities, children's snacks, Crystal's Tiny Treasures, photo

Oh, it’s a different colour!  And what a big pit!

Using the 5 senses to explore fruit, Handa's Surprise book activities, children's snacks, Crystal's Tiny Treasures, photo

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Tristan enjoyed examining the pit and asking lots of questions about it.

We made ants on a mossy log with the avocado for a healthy and fun snack!

One more photo is up with the children digging into a juicy mango.

How to get kids to try new foods, book extension activities, photo

This fruit definitely received the thumbs up from them!

This has been a fun way to learn about not-so-common fruits, animals, culture, and fill our tummies at the same time!

What is your child’s favourite fruit?

For more great ideas see our Books and Book Activity page or see our Multicultural Activities for Kids page where you’ll find all of our multicultural ideas in one place.

Comments

  1. Hey there! I’m stopping by from the blog hop! I hope you and the fam have a great afternoon.

    Nikki

  3. Looks like a wonderful book. Just requested from our library! And I love the outing and sensory activities with the fruit. Thanks for linking up at the Culture Swapper!

      • Just picked this up from the library last night – we’ve already read it several times! Definitely worth a trip to find some guava and passionfruit for my son to try. Thanks for sharing!

  6. Oh how fun and how cute are your kiddos?! I’m sure they loved seeing those fruit in real life! It’s great to expose them to many different foods at that age. They’ll make for adventurous eaters! Thanks for linking into the Kid Lit Blog Hop. 🙂

    • Thank you for hosting, it’s great fun! I must say my children are quite adventurous, and at the very least they are always willing to try something new, which is more than I did until recently! We hope to see you again soon 🙂

  7. This sounds like such a sweet book and I love how you used it to introduce some new foods. The photos are adorable – especially the one just after tasting the pineapple! Thank you for linking up to the Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop!

  8. Hi Crystal! Oh how I wished we had guavas and passion fruit readily available like Leanna mentioned in her comment! But I guess we’ll have to do with the pineapple and avocados. Wonderful post! Thanks for linking up at the Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop #4!

  9. I love this post! I featured it on this months Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop – please come grab your “Featured” button!

    • Thank you very much, Reshama 🙂 Our book came with a DVD so it can be watched (though we prefer to read it) which also has Handa’s Hen on it, which is also good. Have a great day!

  11. I adore books that introduce kids to new places and cultures. Thanks so much for introducing me to this one. It looks really fun. I also love the outing you took and the pictures! Well done, mom! 🙂

    Thanks for linking up to Booknificent Thursday! Hope to see you again this week!
    Tina

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