The problem - Young children are often reluctant to try a new food.  It might not have the same color, shape, or texture of a food common to them.  We introduced pumpkin in different forms to 5 Headstart classrooms (4 year olds). 

The educational program response - Our Staff Assistant went with me to the classrooms and we shared reading the book The Biggest Pumpkin Ever to each class.  We drew out different details that the book introduced and asked pertinent questions that 4 year olds could answer.  These children never cease to amaze me.  The book was quite lenthy, but with our inflection, they were a captivated audience. We cut the top off a real pumpkin so they could see, smell and even touch the "guts" of the pumpkin.  We shared dried pumpkin seeds with them to see how they tasted/felt and we prepared pumpkin mini muffins for the children to try.  Very few children opted to not try any of our pumpkin "goodies". And, we gave each child a small pumpkin to take home.  We sent SNAP Pumpkin and Cushaw recipes home along with a coloring book to match with fruits/vegetables and proper colors to encourage trying foods of various color.  Also, included in the Parent Pack was a handout on Keeping Medications Safe from Children. 

The participants/target audience - We have 5 Headstart classrooms, totaling 66 children (30 males, 38 females, 3 African/American, 13 Adults)

Other partners (if applicable) - We had no partners doing this program.

Program impact or participant response.- The pumpkin "try - mes" were great.  Children gave us thumbs up or thumbs down.  This was definitely a THUMBS UP program.