Time: 45–60 minutes
Big Idea: Learn how wheat grows and how it becomes bread, pasta, and cereal.
What You’ll Need:
· Slice of bread or cracker
· Small handful of uncooked pasta or cereal
· Paper and crayons/markers
· Small container with soil and grass seed (optional)
Part 1. Taste and Talk
Do This: Let your child taste a bite of bread or cracker.
Ask:
· What does it taste like?
· Where do you think bread comes from?
· What foods do you know that use wheat?
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Part 2. Meet the Wheat Plant
Do This: Explain:
· Wheat grows tall and golden in fields.
· Farmers harvest wheat with big machines called combines.
· Wheat grains are ground into flour.
Activity: Draw a wheat stalk together and label the grains at the top.
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Part 3. From Grain to Flour
Steps:
1. Crush a cracker or cereal with a spoon into tiny crumbs.
2. Show how grains are ground down into flour.
3. Talk about how flour is used to make bread, pasta, and cookies.
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Part 4. If I Were a Farmer…
Ask:
· Would you like to plant wheat?
· What food would you make with your wheat?
Activity: Have your child draw themselves driving a combine or baking bread.
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Part 5. Wrap-Up Discussion
· How does wheat become food?
· Why is wheat important to farmers and families?
· What’s your favorite food made from wheat?
