#TWKatHome Activities

Summer Taste Quest

Welcome to TWKatHome, our fun, free online content that helps kids and families explore food and build positive, healthy eating habits. We hope you are enjoying your Summer and the time you have to enjoy outside as much as you can.  We created a Summer Taste Quest Challenge to help you explore the tastes of the Summer!  Kids and adults can participate.

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What is the Summer Taste Quest Challenge?

We challenge you to get out and explore the flavors of Summer in any way you want. Enjoy foods that are in season in new and favorite ways. Remember to challenge to test your taste!  Do you like things salty, sour, bitter, or sweet? See our pick of the top ten tastes of the Summer below and have fun letting your tastebuds guide you!

How do we participate?

It is so easy to participate in out Summer Taste Quest! Print the Taste Quest Inspiration Board and check off the tastes you explore.  You can use it as a game board, a check list, or even add stickers to mark tastes completed.  

Summer Taste Quest 

Quest Coloring Page

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Summer Taste #1 Tomatoes

What is your favorite tomato dish?  What is your favorite tomato?

Tomatoes are in season July-mid September and there are endless possibilities of new flavor combinations to explore with them.

 

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Summer Taste #2: Fresh Herbs

Herbs are plants with leaves or seeds that are used for flavoring food, medicine and even perfume!

Herbs taste and smell good.  A Summer harvest is filled with green herbs like basil, dill, cilantro, and parsley.  Add a few to a recipe or use your senses to explore them more.

  • Start an herb garden
  • Go on a nature walk and see if you can see or smell any herbs.
  • Learn about herbs from the Herbal Academy

Summer Taste #3: Ice Cream

Summer is sweeter with the addition of ice cream on a hot day.

Have you tried to make your own? Have you visited a creamery to experiment with new flavors?

 

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Summer Taste #4: Corn

Corn is a Summer annual crop and can be found at farm stands, farmers markets, and your local grocery store all Summer long.

Nothing says Summer has arrived like a fresh sweet taste of corn on the cob!

Summer Taste #5: Lemonade

Lemonade is a lemon flavored drink that can be traced back to Ancient Egyptians!

August 20th is National Lemonade Day, but every Summer day is a perfect day to taste lemonade.

  • Make your own lemonade!
  • Grow your own lemon tree.
  • Cut a lemon and experiment with adding new tastes to it.  Can you make a lemon taste sweet without sugar?
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Summer Taste #6: Cheese

Did you know cheese can taste sour, salty, bitter, and sweet?

Pack some cheese in a picnic basket and make your own cheese board to try different textures and taste.

  • Go on a virtual tour of a creamery!
  • Read about how cheese is made.
  • Visit a local cheese maker and try a cheese you have never tried before.
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Summer Taste #7: Greens

Taste Wise Kids is always reminding kids and families to add greens to their meal planning and the Summer is an easy time to do that!

Explore some of our salad activities to discover the tastes and creativity in eating your greens.

Summer Taste #8: Snow Cones

Snow cones can cool you down on a hot day and can be a fun way to play around with combining different tastes.

  • Find a local snow cone business to support.
  • Create a recipe of your own to explore with shaved ice.
  • Follow steps to make a snow cone of you own!
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Summer Taste #9: Berries

Berries are a delicious addition to any picnic, salad, meal, or dessert!

There are many farms to visit to pick your own berries.

Read fun facts about some Summer berries:

Summer Taste #10: Flavors of the Chesapeake Bay

Maryland is lucky to have the flavors of the Chesapeake Bay.  

Oyster, Rockfish, Blue Crabs, and so much more come from the bay!

  • Read about the Chesapeake Bay
  • Check out a cookbook to see what recipes people have created from the flavors of the bay.
  • Have an Old Bay taste test with your family.  Do you like the flavor on anything besides seafood?
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Keep Exploring!

Use our Summer Taste Quest Inspiration Board to help you with ideas.  Print it and you can display it and check things off as you go.  Download it and discover ways to engage your taste buds and your mind by clicking on each picture or word.  Each image is linked to a recipe and each word is linked to an acvitity or craft. Click here to download your copy!

Share your adventures with us!

Share what you learned or created from the activity on our social media! We’d also love to hear your ideas for what other content you’d like to see from TWKatHome. Share with us on Facebook (@TasteWiseKids) or Instagram (@tastewise_kids) and use the hashtags #TWKatHome and #myTWKsalad, or email info@tastewisekids.org.

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