Healthy Eating Section: Children/Families and Adults Susie Serrano, BCL Paradise Branch
Pre-School Crafts
Veggie prints with washable, tempera paint or large stamp pads & Sponge painting with
shapes from the dollar store
Cut Veggies and fruit in half, length wise beforehand and place a sturdy plastic fork in the uncut side then children can use this as a handle to dip in the washable paint or on an oversized
stamp pad. You can also use food shapes from foam found at the Dollar Store or you can cut
your own
Spaghetti painting with real cooked spaghetti
This idea is in the manual and online so you can see what you're getting into because it is very
messy. Use pre-cook spaghetti both whole wheat or whole grain and regular and you can talk
about the different types during craft time. Make sure you rinse the spaghetti and mix with a
couple of tablespoons of Olive Oil.
Set out water based paint dabs on paper plates and have the children dip the spaghetti into the
paint making a design on an oversized piece of construction paper.
You can prepare children from the mess by creating a smock out of a black garbage bag by
cutting holes for the arms and neck.
Large refrigerator magnets
Cut out different shapes of food such as watermelon and pizza (AccuCut Die-Cuts) and have
the children decorate it and adults can help attach the adheisive magnet on the back
Popcorn craft - glue popped popcorn on a corn cob shape or paint with colored glue. This idea
is also in the manual and online. Pop non-buttered popcorn, cut or print out a corn on the cob
pattern and have them glue the popcorn on the corn on the cob pattern (pattern on Pinterest
site, see resources slide).
Use the same spaghetti painting idea with popcorn but instead create colored glue using paint
mixed with glue.
Contact paper placemats - cut out food from magazines and talk about the sometimes foods
and everyday foods. This craft will be one of the stations at the end.
Supplies: Contact paper, 8 ½ x 11 printer paper with border art or colored cardstock (optional),
foil or sticker letters (optional), lots of magazine cut outs of yummy food, masking tape (to hold
down the contact paper). Tape down an oversized piece of contact paper sticky side up (about
11 x 14) and have children place the printer paper in the center. They can glue the letters for
their name and some pre-cut food from magazines or color the paper (Teens can do the prep
or buy a Crayola Cutter). You can also use any die-cut items too. Pretty much anything goes
as long it is flat. Then place a second piece of contact paper over the top and trim the edges.
This craft can also be enjoyed by older children.
School Age Programs & Crafts
One event you might consider is a Lego Event using Legos and Duplo items children can
create Lego food. Palos Verdes Library District recently had a Lego & Duplo Mania event
where children got to make a Lego or Duplo creation to take home.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/media/set/?set=a.10151013224487397.419485.38022192396&typ
e=3
A lunch box decorating contest is another idea to consider. You can have kids decorate their
own lunch boxes and bring them in for a judging or have them bring in an old lunch box and
have supplies ready for them to use to decorate with. You can put them on display and have
everyone vote for their favorite or give a small prize to everyone who participated.
Bug food (remember to have peanut and gluten-free options) (picture)
I did this craft during the summer reading bug theme program. We made ladybugs with half of
a small apple, pretzels, raisins, and peanut butter. I also had frosting for children with peanut
allergies (we had one boy who used it). It was really fun and the kids made different creatures
and then enjoyed eating them.
Picnic basket making
There are easy and more complex items on the Pinterest link on the resources slide. Talk
about how easy it is to pack a healthy lunch or snack. You can have a picnic at the library
inside or outside after making your basket. Ask for donations from a local store to promote
healthy eating for children.
You can also order White Treat Boxes from Oriental Trading Company and decorate those
instead. LV-3/3611 (24) for $5.25
Ice Cream Cones (picture)
My co-worker made this recently with her afterschool craft kids and it was pretty cool. You
need Styrofoam balls both big and small (one for each cone), colorful yarn, glue and paper to
make the cone (pattern on Pinterest).
Adults
Adults like crafts too! Have a serving tray craft using old hotel key cards, postcards, spray
painted bottle caps or any fun thing they want to use. I first saw this on the Rachel Ray show
about Upcycling and I really liked the idea. There’s even a video on her website. On Pinterest
there are other fun ideas and extensive instructions.
Oriental Trading Company has Unfinished wood tray (12) for $15.50 LV-48/1937
For the Healthy Living challenge you and your staff can come up with a 6 week plan of things
participants can do each week to earn points towards prizes. For example the first week
participants will earn a point for each day they don’t drink soda. Other weeks it can be 30
minutes of exercise, no processed foods, making dinner at home, packing a lunch etc. At the
end of 6 weeks you can award prizes to 1st, 2nd and 3rd places.
Online
USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference
http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/
Crunch A Color Printables
http://www.crunchacolor.com/pages/printables
California Center for Public Health Advocacy www.publichealthadvocacy.org/resources.html
Join the Reboot Recipes (not just juice)
http://www.jointhereboot.com/recipes/
Easy Skinny Life Blog
http://easyskinnylife.com/
The Frugal Girl Blog
http://www.thefrugalgirl.com/2010/06/grocery-spendingmenu-plan-last-for-june/
Search the Frugal Girl’s archives for more “meal plans” with linked recipes for each month.
Currently she is not doing this series right now so search for past years.
No Sugar Sweet Life Blog
http://www.nosugarsweetlife.com/
On Twitter:
Crunch a Color @crunchacolor
Eat Right @EatRight
USDA @USDA
Choosemyplate.gov @MyPlate
CSPI @CSPI advocate for nutrition and health cspinet.org
Books
Baby & Toddlers
Baby Faces Board Book Eat (Baby Faces) by Intrater, Roberta Grobel
Baby Food (Look Baby! Books) by Miller, Margaret
Flip-a-shape: Yum! by SAMi
Fruit by Anderson, Sara
Hola! Jalapeno (World Snacks) (Spanish and English Edition) by Sanger, Amy Wilson
I like fruit: petit collage by Siminovich, Lorena
I like vegetables: petit collage by Siminovich, Lorena
There's a Cow in the Cabbage Patch by Beaton, Clare
Vegetables by Anderson, Sara
Yummy, Yucky by Patricelli, Leslie
Pre-School
The apple pie tree by Hall, Zoe
Banana Moon by Marshall, Janet
The Crunching Munching Caterpillar by Cain, Sheridan
A day at the market by Anderson, Sara
Down by the Bay (Raffi Songs to Read) by Raffi
How do dinosaurs eat their food by Yolen, Jane
If you give a moose a muffin by Numeroff, Laura Joffe
It looked like spilt milk by Shaw, Charles G.
Jamberry by Degen, Bruce
Little rabbit’s snack time by Baker, Alan
Maisy Makes Lemonade by Cousins, Lucy
Market day by Ehlert, Lois
Maybe a bear ate it! By Harris, Robie
Miss Spider's Tea Party Reader by Kirk, David
Pass the fritters, critters by Chapman, Cheryl
Peanut Butter and Jelly: A Play Rhyme by Westcott, Nadine Bernard
Pie in the sky by Ehlert, Lois
Pigeon wants a hotdog by Willem, Mo
Soup Day by Iwai, Melissa
Spicy hot colors: Colores picantes by Shahan, Sherry
Ten little caterpillars by Martin Jr., Bill
School Age
Apples and Oranges: going bananas with pairs by Pinto, sara
Dog food by Freymann, Saxton
D.W. the picky eater by Brown, Marc
Eat your peas by Gray, Kes
The empanadas that abuela made = Las empanadas que hacia la abuela by Bertrand, Diane
Gonzales
Even aliens need snacks by McElligott
Gregory, the terrible eater by Sharmat, Mitchell
How are you peeling: foods with moods by Freymann, Saxton
I need a lunch box by Caines, Jeannette
I will never not ever eat a tomato by Child, Lauren
The supermarket mice by Gordon, Margaret
Adults
Animal, vegetable, miracle: a year of food life by Kingsolver, Barbara
The big book of juices and smoothies by Savona, Natalie
Deliciously G-free: food so flavorful they’ll never believe it’s gluten-free by Hasselbeck, Elisabeth
Drop dead healthy: one man’s humble quest for bodily perfection by Jacobs, A.J.
Eat like a dinosaur: recipe & guidebook for gluten-free kids by the Paleo Parents
The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite by Kessler, David A.
Fast food nation: the dark side of the all-american meal by Schlosser, Eric
In defense of food: an eaters manifesto by Pollan, Michael
Omnivore’s dilemma: a natural history of four meals by Pollan, Michael
Die Cuts from AccuCut