Arts Explorer # 7: Twist & Sketch

Grapes

A picture of a vineyard where grapes grow

The food item I chose for this week's arts explorer are grapes. I've always loved grapes, ever since i was a kid. Not only are they tasty, refreshing and juicy, but they also come in a convenient small round package! When my mom would pack my lunch during Kindergarten, she would add peeled green grapes as a snack because I didn't appreciate the skin, and I found the purple grapes too bitter. As I got older, I actually started liking purple grapes as well as the skin because it added another layer of sour taste, and chewy texture. Now that I am old enough to drink alcohol, I now appreciate grapes in the form of wine. It's interesting how something I've enjoyed eating when I was a kid, I now enjoy in a totally different way. As I've grown older, my taste in food has matured and developed, and now I've appreciated and acquired a taste for the sourness, the tannic and dry taste of wine, and I appreciate different textures. 

Different coloured grapes

Grapes come in many colours, shapes and sizes. They grow in vines and are usually harvested during the summer, although they can be harvested during the winter to make ice wine. Grapes usually grow in clusters. "Colour is based on the passage of light, comes from the sun and makes each of us respond with feeling" (Fox & Schirrmacher, 2009, p. 136). I was surprised when I read about the different colours of grapes, which include black, dark blue, yellow, crimson, green, orange, and pink. I always thought that grapes were either green on purple, which are the kind of grapes I usually see in groceries. The grapes used to make red wine are small in size, usually seeded, and the skin is left on the grapes because it adds colour, and much of the aroma and taste comes from the skin. Additionally, the grapes used to make wine contain 24% sugar, while grapes for eating contain 15% of sugar. You can choose to buy grapes with seeds, or seedless grapes, which are more convenient to eat. Grapes can be eaten as is, or when you go to the grocery store, you may find vinegar, red, white or ice wine, jam, juice, jelly, raisins etc which are all made out of grapes. The shapes of grapes can be round, oblong, long and thin, short and thick etc. 


This is a fun activity for children to do because it allows them to think about different forms of a category of food. For example, as I have drawn, grapes can come in a liquid drinkable form, or a solid eatable form. This allows children to think of conservation. Although the form or shape of a 'thing' changes, it is still the same 'thing'. Allow children to sketch the different categories of food, and to think about the different forms it comes in!

Sketches of Grapes in Different Forms

A sketch of grapes

A glass of red wine

Grape juice 

Reference 

Schirrmacher, R., & Fox, J.E. (2009). Art and creative development for young children (6th Ed.). Belmont, CA: Delmar Cengage Learning.