Leaf Root Flower or Fruit Sort
by Eric Gonzalez-Payne

Spinach is leaf. Carrot is root. Broccoli is flower. Tomato is fruit.
Broccoli is the one that stops the room. Children have never once considered that they are eating a flower bud, and once told they cannot unsee it.
We use local produce rather than the standard textbook set, so ours runs on kangkung, ubi, banana blossom and papaya, which children actually eat.
The page has the four categories, sixteen cards, and a substitution list for other regions. There is also a trap card, which is a peanut, and it is worth saving until the end. Nobody gets it and everybody remembers it.
Eric Gonzalez-Payne
Founder and curriculum author
Ed.M. in Educational Leadership, Harvard Graduate School of Education
Published by Empathy Global LLC
LinkedInFor the full social and emotional learning programme, see the Empathy Curriculum at empathy.kids.





