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Learning
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The Many Shapes of Food
Lesson Overview
Children will listen and participate while the leader
reads Pancakes, Crackers, and Pizza, A Book About
Shapes which highlights how food can be shaped
like circles, squares, or triangles. The children will
participate at snack time by cutting cheese into
different shapes with cookie cutters and/or common
household items.
Key Concepts
● Healthy food comes in many different shapes.
● Some foods are naturally a certain shape.
● It's fun to shape food in different ways.
Lesson Background
When children engage many senses, they are more
likely to learn in a meaningful way. This lesson
provides an experiential method of teaching children
to recognize shapes.
National Food Service Management Institute
The University of Mississippi
Materials Needed
To teach the lesson:
● Book: Eberts, M., & Gisler, M.
(1984). Pancakes, crackers,
and pizza; A book about
shapes. Children’s Press.
● Food cards or pictures
For the snack:
● Cheese slices (one slice per
child)
● Whole-grain crackers
● Round slices of fruit such as
apples, oranges, peaches, or
bananas
● Optional: star fruit to slice and
taste
● Common household objects
that can be used as cookie
cutters, such as plastic building
blocks or plastic toys that can
be sanitized, plastic cups,
cookie cutters in a variety of
shapes
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Learning
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The Many Shapes of Food, continued
Discussion can center on the natural shapes of food as well as foods that are cut or shaped into
certain forms. The books suggested in the Going Further section will also reinforce these concepts and introduce even more shapes to the children.
Teach the Lesson
Read the book Pancakes, Crackers, and Pizza: A Book About Shapes to the children.
● As you progress through the book, ask children if they recognize the shapes presented in
the book.
● Ask can you think of other foods that are circles, squares, or triangles? Can you find
other non-food items in the room that are circles, squares, or triangles?
● Optional: show the children a star fruit in its whole form. Ask if they know what shape it
is. Next, slice it so that it forms star slices. Ask the children if they can see the star. Offer
taste samples of the star fruit at snack time.
● Introduce the food activity. Explain to the children that they will use cookie cutters and
other items to make different shapes with cheese.
Food Preparation Activity
● Clean and sanitize the table where the children will work. Make sure all children wash
hands with warm water and soap for at least 20 seconds.
● Put a cheese slice and whole-grain crackers on each child's plate.
● In the center of the table, place sanitized cookie cutters and other household items on a
tray.
● Encourage children to use the items to cut shapes from the cheese slice.
● Offer children round slices of fruit such as apple, orange, peach, or banana slices.
● Optional: offer children a slice of star fruit.
CACFP Food Components
Offer at least 1/2 ounce of cheese and 1/2 ounce of crackers for children ages 3–5 and 1 ounce
each of cheese and crackers for children ages 6–12. This will count as a reimbursable snack. If
you are counting the fruit as a component, offer at least 1/2 cup to children ages 3–5 and 3/4
cup to children ages 6–12.
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Learning
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The Many Shapes of Food, continued
Going Further
Children:
● Books to Read
(2003). Are eggs square?. DK Publishing.
Ribke, S. (2005). The shapes we eat. Children's Press
Leader:
For more information on teaching geometry and spatial sense to preschoolers:
● U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Children, Youth and
Families, Head Start Bureau. (2003). The Head Start leaders guide to positive child
outcomes, domain 3: Mathematics.
Available online at
http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov
This project has been funded at least in part with Federal funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service through a grant
agreement with The University of Mississippi. The contents of this publication do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Department of
Agriculture, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. The University of
Mississippi is an EEO/AA/Title VI/Title IX/Section 504/ADA/ADEA Employer.
For more information, contact NFSMI at 800-321-3054 or www.nfsmi.org.
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