P.B. People

I never cease to be amazed at what a kick kids get out of being allowed to play with their food. Yesterday, I took a few minutes to prepare a bowl with some thinly sliced and julienned carrots and some celery sticks. I used a vegetable peeler to make ribbons of carrot and then stacked these and cut them into threads. In a muffin tin, I also put out some apricots, sunflower seeds and GORP (good old raisins and peanuts). There was sliced whole wheat bread (whole slices and triangles), some apple slices and a big, wide-mouthed jar of peanut butter. I gave each of the boys a big dinner plate and a butter knife and said I'd like them to make a "p.b. person" for lunch, which they could eat as soon as I had taken a picture of their creation. That was both the only instruction and the only constraint (other than the fact that they had to choose from what was already on the table, but that was---apparently---implicit). I never said, "Spread some pb on a piece of bread, and then...." On the other hand, I did make my own PB person at the same time they were making theirs, so they probably took some cues from me. In any event, they ate as they created and had a great time.

This is Ben's PB person. Unfortunately, I forgot to ask the name, occupation and planet of origin of their people.

Here is Nathan's. He happily drew my attention to each facial feature he had eaten: "See, Dad? I ate his nose and one eye and one foot!" Spreading peanut butter is a sticky but fun challenge for a four-year-old. I made sure Nate didn't leave the table before giving his hands, face and shirt a good cleaning with a damp cloth.