Peanut Butter & Jelly

Learning goal: People continue inventing new ways of doing things, solving problems, and getting work done. (Consider the invention of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich!)

• Reading= The Red Ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear by Don and Audrey Wood, Peanut Butter and Jelly by Nadine Bernard Westcott and If You Give a Moose a Muffin by Laura Numeroff. Letter of the day: J is for jam & jelly.
• Art= Trace an outline of your shoe to make a peanut shape. Fill in the shape with glue then pour smashed peanut shells over it. Remove the excess and voila! Or, paint peanuts (still in the shell) with different colors then glue on googley eyes. Display your peanut family by “planting” them in play dough.
• Science= Define the terms inventor and invention. Review some of the inventions that led up to the peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Include some facts about the making of peanut butter from the peanut plant. Next, provide the kids with peanuts and some common household items (ball, straw, dice, spoon, jar). Challenge them to invent a game to play using only the peanuts and items provided. Need some help? Have a peanut hunt, play peanut jacks, or challenge friends to a peanut toss or relay. For example, carry a peanut with a spoon or blow a peanut with a straw across a finish line.
• Play= After playing peanut games with your little inventors, shell those peanuts and make homemade peanut butter! (Isn't the blender a useful invention?) Enjoy peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch. Plan a trip to the farm in May to pick strawberries.
  

Fun facts: National peanut butter and jelly day is celebrated April 2. Who do children have to thank for this?

In 1890, an unknown physician from St. Louis first invented peanut butter to provide his patients with an easy-to-digest, high protein food. And who invented sliced bread? A St. Louis baker named Gustav Papendick was the first to sell sliced bread in 1928. Interestingly, soldiers in WWII were likely the first to combine peanut butter and jelly on a sandwich. Both peanut butter and jelly were on the U.S. Military ration menus. The sandwich rose in popularity during the 1940s.