One of the most popular activities I've been doing at QE is making mint tea fresh from the garden, because our mint patch by the kindergarten rooms is overflowing!
I've been taking students out in small groups to see, touch, smell, and taste the mint. The younger the students, the less they like the taste of raw leaves - but everyone loves the sweet, spicy smell! Did you know that:
-the most common kind of mint is spearmint?
-there are over 30 kinds of mint, including spearmint, peppermint, and chocolate mint?
-people have been using mint since at least ancient Egyptian times?
Once we taste the raw mint, I've been asking the students to harvest enough mint for tea. It takes at least 5 stalks' worth of crushed leaves to make a pot this size, which yields about 25 small cups. The students love to see the water turning green, and even the little ones seem to love the taste of homebrewed tea!
