Every month we take a bag up to Saver’s for donation. For my kids this has become a fun “shopping day” because if they fill their bag up with toys that they no longer play with, they get to pick out one new to them toy to bring home. This month Meatball’s new to him toy was a Smithsonian Space Ship. This toy has spurred on many many questions about Astronauts and Outer Space. I can’t wait to share with ya’ll all the stuff we have done. This Astronaut Snack is one of the many activities we have explored and it was a huge hit!
The Space Snacks (Freeze Dried Fruit) we were sent came from Crispy Green. Their freeze dried products are 100% natural products are even Non-GMO Project Verified! The variety of flavors was stunning and this snack provided a lot of fun.
Before our snack we watched a very very short virtual field trip where an Astronaut shows the different snacks available on a Space Station. The kids found this fascinating and giggled horribly over her playing with the food.
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After watching I presented the freeze dried fruits to the kids. They were a bit hesitant to try them.
But all in all they enjoyed it! They weren’t too crazy about the oranges. We also tried re-hydrating our fruit by dipping it into glasses of hot water. While it maintained it’s taste the kids enjoyed it more crunchy. Livia loved the idea of fruit chips!
We tried out pears, two different types of apples, pineapple, cantaloupe, bananas, oranges — it was such a fun experience!
How Freeze Drying Works
The idea of freeze-drying is to completely remove water from food while leaving the basic structure and composition of the food intact. People do this to preserve food for long periods of time or to remove the water weight.
This is done by “locking in” the composition and structure of the material by drying it without applying the heat necessary for the evaporation process. The freeze-drying process converts solid water — ice — directly into water vapor, skipping the liquid phase entirely. This is done through a process called sublimation, the shift from a solid directly into a gas.
Interested in studying Space Food with your kids? Check out this awesome NASA Guide on Space Food and Nutrition! I can’t wait to show you guys what else we discover as we explore Space!