641.3 Peanut Butter: Fun with a Purpose

I Love Lucy ranks as one my all-time Top 5 TV shows ( I was a child of the 50s/60s) and so when I got to "live" one of my favorite episodes...wow! Remember when Lucy & Ethel switched jobs with their husbands and went to work in the chocolate factory...

Well, one of my best pals who is always up for a new adventure and I had an opportunity to do a shift at a peanut butter factory as part of a community service ... the Lucy & Ethel syndrome was very much on our minds as we drove to fulfill our commitment!

Yup, you guessed it...my part of the line was to control newly sealed jars of peanut butter as they made their way to the labeler...to send them down the next part of the line SPACED properly so the labels would be attached PROPERLY! Between machinery malfunctions and lack of rhythm, it was "nightmarish" at times! At times I couldn't keep up...the jars were too big for my hat so (with very special help) I was "dumping" them into grocery carts...without making them fall over!!

I took a screen shot of the exact turn I was responsible for from a YouTube video about the peanut butter factory. See that nice, neat spacing of the jars after the turn...well, about 65% of mine looked like those...the other 35%...thank goodness there are no pictures!

BTW, if you want to look at the peanut butter process, you can google peanut butter and there are several videos from YouTube and other sources!

Despite my "Lucy" moments, the whole experience was very interesting, lots of fun, and I was glad to share in the service project. I look forward in paying it forward sometime, somewhere, somehow!

Of course, I can't have fun like that without thinking about the tie-in to something educational!

If you find a useful video, you can talk about the science behind food processing, you can talk about jobs involved in making peanut butter, you can talk about the contributions made by George Washington Carver during a biography unit. And how appropriate that my adventure occurred at this time because March is National Peanut Month.

And naturally, I had to find some books to include
From Farm to Store
From Peanut to Peanut Butter
Make Me a Peanut Butter Sandwich and a Glass of Milk
Peanut Butter
Peanut Butter and Jelly: A Play Rhyme
The Peanut Butter Cookbook for Kids
The Peanut Butter Party: Including the History, Uses, & Future of Peanut Butter
I Like Peanuts
Life & Times of the Peanut
Peanuts
Science Fun with Peanuts and Popcorn

And a little peanut butter poetry

I am Getting Sick of Peanut Butter
Peanut Butter Sandwich - Shel Silverstein
Hug Sandwich - sing it!

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And here is an oldie (another sign of my age!)...includes an audio clip you can play!

The Peanut Butter Song - I think we even had motions to it!

and another song Peanut Butter & Jelly - anybody 25 & under probably knows the tune...it was a big hit at my kids' pre-school back in the 80's. Audio clip

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Some other resources
Virginia Carolina Peanuts - activities, lesson plans

Peanut Butter Lovers - history, recipes, contest

The Peanut Institute. Eat Well. Eat Peanuts - nutrition facts
American Peanut Council - nutritional facts about peanuts Skippy Fun Page - recipes, Kid's Corner
Peanut & Peanut Butter Recipes
Video on making homemade peanut butter
How to make a PB&J sandwich Flickr slideshow - sequencing activity!

And a video on making homemade peanut butter cups!
Now isn't that a clever way to tie in the chocolate reference at the beginning.

I think I need a PB&J sandwich!