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Teaching the Senses with Refrigerator Pickles

by Elise McMullen-Ciotti

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I Hear a Pickle (and Smell, See, Touch, and Taste It, Too!) by Caldecott Honor artist Rachel Isadora is indeed an amazing classroom book discovery. It’s a sweet and simple introduction to the five senses and is perfect for kids ages 3 to 6. Since learning to cook and learning about the senses truly go hand in hand, I’d like to present an exciting hands-on classroom activity (which parents can do at home as well) that will be educational, memorable, and fun! 

Happy reading...and eating! 

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This activity spans one week and ties in easily with any classroom curriculum about the senses.

Monday

Read the book I Hear a Pickle aloud.

Tuesday

Create a sensory activity using dill. Give each of the students a piece of dill, explaining that it’s a plant that we use for cooking. Then ask them to use their senses to describe the dill. What does it look like? What color is it? Does it resemble a tree? A plant? A bus? Move on to the next sense. What does it sound like? Is it quiet or loud? What does it smell like? Is the fragrance sweet? Spicy? Does it smell like a dog? Like a cat? Like a pickle? What does it feel like? Is it hard? Is it soft? Smooth? Fluffy? Finally, have them each take a small piece and taste it. How is it? Sweet? Tangy? 

Wednesday

Make refrigerator pickles. Have a table preset with ingredients for kids to explore. Point out the dill on the table. Do they remember its name? Pull out the book and tell the class that today everyone is going to make pickles. Follow the recipe/activity below. Take a picture of your new pickles in the jar. Then place them in the refrigerator until Friday. (Make sure you have enough pickles for every student to have half a spear for Friday’s activity. The recipe will give you 24 halves.)

Thursday

Print out your picture of the pickles from the day before. Take the jar of pickles out of the refrigerator and place it on the table next to the picture. Do a compare-and-contrast activity with the picture and the jar. What has changed? What has stayed the same? Place the pickles back in the refrigerator, telling the kids that the pickles aren’t quite finished yet and that they will be able to check on the pickles’ progress the next day and see what they look like.

Friday

Read the book I Hear a Pickle again together as a class. Afterward, ask students if they’d like to also hear their own pickles. You’ll probably get resounding cheers of excitement! (For older students, give them this printout to fill in.) Do the first sense—sight—together as a class: Hold up a pickle spear and ask kids to describe what they see. What color is it? Does it look hard or soft? Then place each pickle spear on a paper towel and distribute one to each student. Ask them to touch the front and the back of the spear. What does it feel like? Do the sides feel different? Then ask them to smell it. What does it smell like? Now ask them to take a bite. What does it taste like? And finally ask them to take another bite. What sound does it make? Does it go crunch?

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Note: For this activity, it is best to have teacher assistants or family volunteers. One assistant per eight children is recommended.

Classroom Refrigerator Pickles

Time: 20 minutes (then 2 days in refrigerator)
Makes 24 spears
  • Ingredients
  • 12 small, halved cucumbers (should equal 2 cups)
  • 2 cloves garlic (halved)
  • 2 stalks fresh dill
  • ½ teaspoon black peppercorns
  • ½ teaspoon coriander seeds
  • ¼ teaspoon mustard seeds
  • 1 cup water
  • ½ cup apple cider vinegar
  • ½ cup white distilled vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon sea salt (not coarse)
  • 2 teaspoons sugar (unrefined)
  • Tools
  • Cutting board
  • Chopping knife
  • Wide-mouth 24-oz. mason jar
  • Measuring cups and spoons
  • 11 bowls or cups for displaying ingredients
  • 4- to 6-cup electric kettle
  • Spoon
  • Long oven mitts
  • Recipe Activity
  • 1. Beforehand, prep all of your ingredients and place in individual bowls for display. Be sure to leave a few cucumbers whole and a full head of garlic to display and discuss with the class.
  • 2. Set up your kettle in a teacher-only spot in the classroom.
  • 3. Prep your ingredients to be used for observation: Cut 12 small cucumbers in half length-wise and place them in a bowl, along with 2 whole cucumbers. Smash and peel your garlic and place in a bowl along with a whole head of garlic. Place all other ingredients in their own separate bowls. Make sure you have ¼ cup of spices in the bowls so kids can easily observe them.
  • 4. Begin the activity: Place all of the ingredients and your mason jar on the table. Talk about the ingredients. Have the kids smell them and feel them. Ask them if there is anything on the table they have seen before. Ask them where they think the ingredients come from.
  • 5. Make the pickles: Bring your kettle to the table and to it add your vinegars, sugar, salt, and water. Involve the kids as much as you feel they are able. Place the kettle on its electric base and heat.
  • 6. While the kettle is heating, bring the students’ attention to the mason jar. Have them add the cucumber slices. Then guide them in measuring out the peppercorns, coriander seeds, mustard seeds, dill, and garlic. Place the ingredients in the jar.
  • 7. Once your vinegar mixture is heated in the kettle, have all of the students stand away from the table and observe. Put on your mitts and pour the liquid into the jar. Use a spoon to push down the cucumbers so that the liquid covers all of the cucumbers and spices. Close your jar. Now bring the kids up to the table to observe, but tell them they can only look, not touch. The jar will be hot.
  • 8. Set the pickles aside and let the jar cool for 1 hour. Then place the pickle jar in your refrigerator. Let it sit in the refrigerator for 48 hours. (Pickles will last up to one month in the refrigerator.)
  • Note: If you are unable to use a kettle in your classroom, have kids place all the ingredients, including liquids, in the jar. Photograph the jar. Tell them you will take the pickles home to cook. At home, create your own jar of pickles, heating the liquid mixture on the stove. Bring this new jar back the next day. Place the jar in your classroom refrigerator and continue the activities as written above.

Adult Supervision Recommended

Photos by Thomas Beckner

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Download the classroom activity here.

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A Note from Judy

Making new friends can be as easy as sharing a cookie! The Book of the Week–If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff, illustrated by Felicia Bond—shows all the possibilities of befriending a mouse that overstays its welcome.

This week, have fun guessing what the Book Boys will ask for next; watch an exclusive interview with the book’s author, Laura Numeroff, in Behind the Scenes; learn how a teacher uses If You Give a Mouse a Cookie to engage her students in Book Talks; and download a free sequencing activity in this week’s Cooked Up from a Book!

We hope this tale of a boy and a mouse will make your students laugh and learn about the importance of setting boundaries and sharing.

Judy Newman

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If You Give A Mouse a Cookie

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by Felicia Bond
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