Whenever food is a part of a Bible story, you can transform your classroom into a tasting party. All you have to do is create stations that give children an opportunity to touch, see, smell, and taste food that is a part of the story that they are about to explore.
You’re invited!
1. Pick a date
Set one class time to feature food items from three to five Bible stories OR designate the first Sunday of each month as Tasting Party Sunday and feature only one Bible story.
2. Send an invitation with an RSVP
Send out invitations via mail (children love getting mail!) OR e-mail an invitation. RSVPs are helpful for planning and protecting children with food allergies.
3. Donations
Encourage people to bring food donations for an organization that provides food for children in your area.
Taste and hear the Bible stories
Do all you can to create a party atmosphere by including name tags, decorations, and napkins. Invite family units to host a food station and provide the food. As children gather around each food station, they will hear the story and sample the food mentioned in the story.
1. Locusts & honey: John the Baptist ate locusts and wild honey (Matthew 3:1-6)
Purchase honey at a grocery store. Locusts, purchased at local pet stores, are fun to look at but are not for human consumption. Purchase edible locusts and chocolate-covered crickets online.
2. Loaves & Fish: Feeding of the 5,000 (Matthew 14:15-21)
Because this story includes five loaves and two fish, sample a variety of grains or gluten-free breads and a couple of kinds of dried fish.
3. Grapes: The grapes that were harvested from the land of Canaan (Numbers 13: 17-25)
Set up a grape buffet.
4. Unleavened Bread: Remembering the story of Passover (Exodus 12:12-20)
Unleavened bread can be purchased at a grocery store or recipes are available online.
5. Vegetables: Daniel and his friends observed a diet of only vegetables (Daniel 1:3-16)
All you need is vegetables and water.
6. Manna: God provides manna for the Israelites in the wilderness (Exodus 16:6-18)
Manna recipes are available online.
Tasting parties offer children a hands-on experience, inviting them to enter into the stories of God’s people to “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 24:8). Engage a child’s sense of taste, and your next Bible story will be one that they will always remember!