Flavors of Spring Inspire the Culinary Kids Food Festival!

Posted in Programs and Events on April 9 2014, by Lansing Moore

The flowers are beginning to bloom, the bees are finding their way back into the garden, and the grass is greening up again. Spring is on its way back! And kids everywhere are ready to spend more time outside. So come to the Garden for the return of The Culinary Kids Food Festival on April 14! Turn planting season into family fun during this week-long celebration of our favorite treats and where they come from. Fill up your Festival Passport at the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden with recipes, hands-on activities, and plenty of music and tastings. There will be a daily cooking demonstration at 1 p.m. each day throughout the festival, featuring kid-friendly recipes and tasty samples.

Click through to discover our new lineup of Activity Stations for the Spring Culinary Kids Food Festival!

One of the first signs of spring is the buzzing of bees. These insects are so vital to our ecosystem, and visitors can get “The Buzz on Bees, Sweet Bees!” at our beecentric activity station. Kids will learn about the partnership between the plants we grow and the pollinators we need to help produce the fruits, nuts, and seeds we eat. Not to mention there will be sweet honey samples to enjoy while learning about the bees’ fascinating social structure from an empty hive.

After enjoying some honey, kids can explore the rich complexities of how they enjoy their favorite foods at “Taste, Flavor, Fun!” Through taste tests, kids will see which of their five senses are most important to the way they experience flavor.

While hosting our own egg as part of The Big Egg Hunt, egg decorating has been on our mind. Kids can make a paper pysanka egg, using the beautiful Ukrainian tradition of egg decoration at “The Chicken and the Egg.” Families can then visit the Garden’s own chickens and see the many kinds of eggs produced—including brown, white, and even blue.

In April, the name of the game is sprouts. Kids will fold their own seed packets and learn to grow basil at home in “Make a Seed Packet Grow Your Own!” And they can continue to sample sprouts and collect more seeds at “Spring Sprouts.” The experience continues at home, where families can grow  herbs together for their next meal!

Spring’s Culinary Kids Food Festival runs from April 14–21. You might also want to check out the other programs that will be taking place during the Festival, and register ahead of time for tickets. Don’t forget, it will also be your last chance to check out The Orchid Show: Key West Contemporary before its April 21 closing!