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Conversation Bananas

February 11, 2013 by Tina Verrelli 10 Comments
Modified August 16, 2020 at 9:29 pm

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I grew up as the youngest child in a family with 6 children.  School day mornings were a flurry of activity.  There were shower schedules, doors banging, clothes borrowing, lost homework and the constant din of the older kids’ radios playing the local AM WFIL and later, the Philly Morning Zoo radio show on WMMR.  The kitchen, however, I remember being as organized as a Naval galley.  Mom would rule that kitchen in her Vanity Fair bathrobe like a galley chief.  The kitchen counter was always neatly lined up with glasses of orange juice, vitamins, breakfast offerings (remember Cream of Wheat and Ralston?) and a long line of brown bag lunches ready to grab on the way out the door.

Now, I’m the mom in my own kitchen.  It’s calmer and quieter as I only have two kids.  The din comes from The Today Show on the kitchen TV.  My robe is fuzzy pink and from Costco.  I serve juice, chewable vitamins, eggs and frozen waffles.  I pack my kids’ lunches and line them up on the counter much like she did and I carry on her unique tradition of communication via the lunch bag.

From kindergarten through high school, if I had a banana in my lunch, it had a message from Mom written right on it with ball point pen; a banana-gram.  It was Mom’s little way of touching base.  A welcome thing in the jungle that is the school cafeteria.  My oldest, who just started middle school this year, groaned at the beginning of the school year that I was going to continue to write on her bananas.  I know in her heart she loves it and the groaning was just a touch of her newfound middle school bravado.

I asked Mom the other day where this tradition started.  Her emailed reply was:

Tina,  I think I actually started coloring on the white napkins; you know, the napkins that had a flower embossed in the corner.  I wanted to send a message.  I don’t know if I accidently found out that markings stayed on a banana skin.  At first I would just draw a heart, a pumpkin or XOXO.   I know I started about the time that I had 4 teenagers, I was always trying to communicate and stay in touch by having something to talk about ever so trivial.   Nothing real exciting, but that’s how I remember it.  Love, Mom

So I share with you this “recipe” for lunch box banana-grams.  It’s a simple tradition that my brothers and sisters, all six of us, fondly remember and still pass on to our kids/grandkids today.  Thanks Mom!

When I taught elementary school, I would occasionally use banana-grams as part of a lesson.  I remember writing examples of cause and effect from Curious George books on bananas.  One child would get a banana with a cause and another would get a banana with the coordinating effect.  They would walk around the room to find their  match, then enjoy their bananas while listening to a Curious George story.

I’m a room parent now in my child’s class.  Our school has committed to taking steps toward healthier eating at school.  When we have a holiday celebration in class, we ask for a regular snack and a healthy snack.  Some refer to it as the “fun” snack and the healthy snack, but healthy can be fun too!  I thought it would be clever to use the banana-gram idea as a Valentine’s Day Party healthy snack!

Valentine Party Banana-Gram Treats:

For each child, you’ll need a:

  1. banana
  2. paper plate
  3. plastic knife
  4. toothpick or plastic fork
  5. small cup of strawberry yogurt

On each banana use a ball point pen to write a personalized conversation heart style message, joke or riddle for each child.  The children will love reading their own special messages.  Then they can cut up their own banana into slices and dip them in the strawberry yogurt.  I think they’ll go bananas for it!!

Valentine Party Banana-Gram Treats:

Leave a message on a banana for someone! Pack one in a lunchbox! ...or write fun Valentine messages on bananas and serve with yogurt to dip-in for a school Valentine's Day party!
Tina Verrelli - epicuricloud.com
Print Pin Rate
Servings: 1 per person

Ingredients

  • 1 banana per person
  • 1 paper plate per person
  • 1 plastic knife per person
  • 1 toothpick or plastic fork for dipping per person
  • 1 small container yogurt per person

Instructions 

  • Use a ball point pen to write a personalized conversation heart style message, joke or riddle for each child.
  • The children will love reading their own special messages.
  • They can cut up their own banana into slices and dip them into yogurt. I think they'll go bananas for it!!
Tried this recipe?Share it! Tag @epicuricloud - Please Leave A Comment & Rating Below! TY!

Filed Under: Lunch Box Ideas, Valentine's Day Tagged With: Banana, banana grams, conversation bananas, healthy school snack, lunchbox, Valentine's Day

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Suzanne Lees

    February 11, 2013 at 11:14 pm

    Tina–my mornings growing up were a lot like yours, WFIL in the early years, then the morning zoo on WMMR. My dad used to draw smiley faces on our lunch bags every day. Maybe a Phillies penant on opening day, a scarf on a day that was cold–and he always chilled the OJ glasses! I still pack lunch for my 15 year old daughter –just something I like to do. I am definitely sending a banana-gram in tomorrow’s lunch! On a quick aside, I’m heading to Avalon, NJ with my SHIP sisters for the weekend–can’t wait!! Hip, hip for SHIP!

    Reply
    • Christina Verrelli

      February 12, 2013 at 12:53 am

      Love it Suzanne!! Have fun in Avalon with your SHIP girls!! Cheers to you all!!

      Reply
  2. Jim Hillen (older Bro)

    February 22, 2013 at 4:50 pm

    Ha…I remember being in the lunch room…"Hey what’s your banana say today".

    Reply
    • Christina Verrelli

      February 23, 2013 at 2:03 am

      Hey Older Bro Jim!! Glad to see you here!! Thanks for checking out the blog!! XO

      Reply
  3. Ally

    March 1, 2013 at 7:21 pm

    Tina! I love this post…how special your Mama was to write something on that ‘naner w/so many other things on her plate and a houseful of youngens~~now I just wish I’d thought of that w/my 3 boys when they were young, but alas as 30-something y/o men they’d think I’d lost it! I’m so very glad we’ve connected, and I look forward to following you~~xo Ally

    Reply
    • Christina Verrelli

      March 2, 2013 at 3:36 pm

      Glad we connected too!! The kids always think we’ve lost it!! LOL!! How on Earth do you have 30-somethings?? The "Hollers" of WV must hold the fountain of youth!!

      Reply
  4. mango furit

    March 19, 2013 at 7:55 am

    Bananas are a storehouse of essential nutrients like potassium, magnesium, dietary fibre and B vitamins. For this reason I love also to eat banana indeed. After getting this information and impression about the banana from this website I am so inspired at all. Thanks…

    Reply
    • Christina Verrelli

      March 20, 2013 at 1:10 am

      Thank you for visiting!! I am a big fan of mangos too!! I eat some form of mango just about every day!! YUM!!

      Reply
  5. Nancy

    September 9, 2013 at 1:17 pm

    Such a cute idea! I used to make decorated notes for their lunchboxes (they each have big Ziploc full of the ones they saved), but now they just shove whatever they take into their already overstuffed backpacks. Sometimes I try to remember to text them a lunch note. 🙂

    Reply
    • Christina Verrelli

      September 9, 2013 at 7:38 pm

      Hi Nancy! Love the text note!! My daughter is counting the days until she can finally have a phone – I’m thinking at least another 1,095 days! ( :

      Reply

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