Food, Fear Factor Style

Today is the last day of the trimester, and my students asked if we could have a party. Sure, I said, with a devious grin. They expected food, and I delivered. What they didn't expect was for the party to have a theme of "nasty and nastier."

I stole this lesson plan from another drama teacher in the district who has used it for a while. It's a lot of fun while at the same time teaching the kids about realistic/authentic reactions, why we like them, and how to recreate them on the stage. The foods we've tried so far are

• pickled pearl onions
• caviar
• liver pate
• limburger cheese
• anchovies
• sardines
• vinegar
• clam juice
• sauerkraut
• dates

10 volunteers andraw the name of a food out of a hat. The only thing is, we don't tell them what it really is. One of my creative students went through and renamed all of the foods so now we're having things like sheep eyeballs and shredded monkey brains. Yum! While the kids know that's not what they're really getting, it certainly puts their imaginations to work. Once blindfolded, the kid gets his/her treat. It's a good time and the kids who are watching are having a fantastic time grossing the other kids out. In a game like this, everyone's a winner!