I’m always looking for new ideas and ways to help teach empathy to little learners.

For this week’s literacy snack idea, we are reading a book called Yoko, by Rosemary Wells.

In this book, Yoko brings here favorite lunch to school, sushi! But her friends say not nice things about her lunch. In the end, Yoko is able to share her favorite food with a friend that turns out likes it too!

The book has a great message for the students to learn that it is not ok or nice to make fun of the different things people like, or for being different. It is a fantastic book to read at the beginning of the school year as well to help teach about having empathy and differences.

So for our snack to go along with the book this week, we’ll be making Yoko’s favorite food, sushi! Well, candy sushi that is!

Ingredients

1 full-size Rice Krispy Treats

1 small square size Rice Krispy Treats

1 Fruit by the Foot

1 Swedish fish candy

5 or 6 mini jelly beans

Assemble

We made two different types of sushi, maki rolls and nigiri. For the maki roll, have the student take the smaller Rice Krispy Treats out of the package and press the treat together to make it more of a circle rather than a square. Have them open their Fruit By the Foot, and carefully wrap a piece around the outside of the Rice Krispy Treats. Add the jelly beans to the top.

For the nigiri, have the students unwrap the larger Rice Krispy Treats. Lay the fish on top of the treat and use another part of the Fruit By the Foot to wrap around both the fish and Rice Krispy Treats.

While your students are enjoying their candy sushi, I made a free printable for them to work on. They will get to draw and write about their favorite thing to bring in their lunch box. After everyone is done, it is a great opportunity to share as a class what they like to bring.