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Peabody TeachFor teachers and grown-ups

Food theme for toddlers: a week of activities

A food theme lesson plan for toddlers: what a day looks like, then the week's circle time (two or three minutes, on laps), books, craft, song, snack, letter and outside time, each with what changes at this age.

Plan this week for toddlersThe whole food week

A day of the food theme with toddlers

  1. Arrival and free play on the floor.
  2. Sing “Old Mother Hubbard” with actions; repeat it while you change and feed.
  3. Hold and pass something real for the week (cook), and say its name.
  4. Snack: a toddler-safe version of butter in a jar (check the recipe's lines for under-4s).
  5. Outside: a short walk looking for stir.
  6. Read Sip, Sip, Sip on laps, pointing and naming.
  7. Nap, then the song once more at pick-up.

Food circle time

  1. Hello song: sing hello to each child by name.
  2. Look out of the window together: sun, rain or clouds?
  3. Show the theme: hold up something real and name it.
  4. Sing: Old Mother Hubbard.
  5. Read: Sip, Sip, Sip (level 0).

Infants and toddlers: two or three minutes, on laps.

Food theme books

  • Sip, Sip, Sip (level 0, free on peabody.kids): Sipping and tasting, in a pattern.
  • Jen and the Jam (level 1, free on peabody.kids): Fruit turned into jam, and a mess.
  • A Bun for Fran (level 2, free on peabody.kids): A bun to share.
  • Yum! (read aloud, level 4): A read-aloud pattern book: what does a frog think is yummy?

Infants and toddlers: one book, read every day; point and name.

Food craft: Paper-plate meal

You need (4): paper plate, food pictures or colored paper, glue stick, crayons.

  1. Draw or glue on a food for each part of the plate.
  2. Add something to drink.
  3. Tell a friend what is on your plate.

With a grown-up. No heat, nothing hot.

Infants and toddlers: let them touch and hold the materials while you make it; nothing small enough to swallow.

Food song: Old Mother Hubbard

The words

Old Mother Hubbard Went to the cupboard, To fetch her poor dog a bone; But when she came there The cupboard was bare, And so the poor dog had none.

Traditional; public domain. From Top 52 nursery rhymes with lyrics.

Food snack

Butter in a Jar from the Peabody Kitchen: picture steps, allergy swaps and safety lines on the recipe.

Swap: Round crackers → gluten-free round crackers.

Letter C activities

CcC is for cook. Print the two pages (a trace page and a color page).

Infants and toddlers: skip the trace page; show the picture page and say the word.

Outside activity: Mud kitchen

Spoons, pots and water in the sandbox or mud: cook a pretend soup and serve it.

Food theme for 2 year oldsFood theme for 3 and 4 year oldsFood theme, all ages

Checked 2026-10-30