4 Ideas for Teaching Kids about How Grain is Processed
Teaching kids about grain processing will help them to learn where some of their favorite food comes from and how it’s made. This is a great way for children to learn science and have fun with it.
There are 4 fun ideas for teaching kids about how grain is processed including:
- Show a kid-friendly grain processing video.
- Have your children touch and feel different types of grain.
- Take a field trip to a grain processing plant.
- Do a science experiment involving grains.
What is Grain Processing?
Grain processing helps to remove what cannot be digested in the human body from what can be properly digested. The bran and germ are separated for consumption from other compounds that cannot be easily digested in the human body.
The grain processing procedure turns corn and other grains into flour and other by-products that can be transformed into bread, tortillas, cereals, baked goods, animal food, and more. Animal feed has more barley as more human food contains wheat and whole grain.
1. Show a Kid-Friendly Grain Processing Video
Start out with a visual activity before going into a hands-on activity about the topic. Begin by finding a kid-friendly grain processing video of your choice on YouTube that explains the basics of grains.
Make sure whatever videos you choose to show are short, simple, yet very informational about grain processing.
2. Have Your Children Touch and Feel Different Types of Grains
The Share & Remember blog lists many fun and educational grain related activities for preschoolers. The best one to do to get the conversations started about grain processing is to have a sensory bin of different grains.
Make sure the sensory bin is sectioned off. Put pasta, oatmeal, dried corn, quinoa, or any other type of grain of your choice in each section of the bin and have your children or preschool class take turns feeling the grains’ texture and shape.
Follow up with a grain processing learning activity. Have the child paste a type of grain such as oatmeal to a page. Then have him or her draw a picture of a bowl of oatmeal. Draw an arrow from the oatmeal grain to the oatmeal bowl to show how the grain turns into a delicious breakfast.
3. Take a Field Trip to a Grain Processing Plant
Scherer, Inc is a grain processing plant that originated in the 1980s in South Dakota. You can learn about the milling and grain processing procedure by watching their videos before taking a trip to there or another local plant.
Taking a trip to a local grain processing plant will help children of all ages-especially starting at grade school age-as to how it’s done. Children will learn sequence by going from one section of the plant to the next to see the entire procedure for grain processing. It is a great alternative to learning the topic first hand at a real live plant rather than just doing science experiments in the classroom.
4. Do a Science Experiment Involving Grains
But don’t forget to still do a science experiment here and there about grain processing!
For older kids, after learning about the educational background of grain processing, one of the most fun science experiments you can do is bake something such as cake, bread, or muffins. If you are teaching a class, have the plan to choose what the students will bake. Give the students a recipe and divide them into teams to get the job done. Put the finished dough into ovens at your school and have them enjoy their creations once baked.
