Nutrition
Week 2, Fall 2012
Lesson objective: Students will be able to describe the different food groups in the food pyramid
and identify good/healthy versus bad/unhealthy foods to eat. Lesson to be guided by Y’s “Food and
Fun” curriculum.
Introductions:
 Introduce lesson topic: nutrition & healthy eating choices
o Ask:
 What’s your favorite food?
 Why is eating healthy foods important?
 Emphasize importance between both eating well and staying active (exercise is next
week’s lesson)
o Nametags:
 Provide all students with a nametag template, on which they can draw their favorite
food
Activity 1 – Describe the different foods groups in the food pyramid.
 Make-A-Meal
o Provide ‘MyPlate’ (most current version of food pyramid) so kids can make their own
balanced, healthy meal with foods; image found at: http://www.choosemyplate.gov/foodgroups/downloads/MyPlate/ColoringSheet.pdf
o Also provide a variety of images of foods, including: doughnut, bacon, sausage, pancakes,
milk and cereal, oatmeal, sliced fruit, toast, potato chips, cheeseburger, fries, soda, deli
sandwich (w/lettuce and tomatoes), orange juice, fried chicken, onion rings, salad, pasta,
rice, fish
o Instruct the students to make a healthy and unhealthy breakfast/lunch/dinner
o Things to emphasize:
 Breakfast is the most important meal of the day (large breakfast is better than a
large dinner because you are moving a lot during the day and using the energy, but
not at night, so energy gets turned into fat)
 Don’t take more than you can finish/eat
 Vary your meals as much as you can – get larger array of nutrients
o Grains: (bread, pasta, rice, oatmeal, graham crackers, non sugary
cereals)(Especially whole grain)
 Get 4-5 ounces a day (an ounce is roughly one slice of bread, one small
bowl of cereal, etc.)
 Give you energy and helps you grow, has some fiber
o Vegetables: (lettuce, corn, tomatoes, celery, green beans, potatoes, etc.)
 1.5 cups needed (1 cup of vegetable juice)
 Vitamins, fiber
o Fruits: (apples, oranges, beaches, grapes, raspberries, etc.)
 1.5 cups (juice, or one apple/orange/banana)
 Vitamins, “good” sugars
o Oils: (vegetable/olive oil, fish, nuts)
1
4 teaspoons
Careful to differentiate between good and bad oils (monosaturated =
good)
 Make sure to consume in moderation – we need some, but not too
much
o Dairy: (yogurt, cheese, milk)
 2 cups (milk)
 Calcium for strong bones
o Meat and Beans: (chicken, ham, beef, peanuts, tuna, beans, eggs)
 4 ounces (small piece of meat, cup of nuts)
 Protein provides nutrients that our body needs to function
 Muscles
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Activity 2 – Identify healthy foods that should be a part of their daily diets.
 Eat the rainbow!
o Create a big dice with all the colors on the sides, each representing different fruits and
vegetables (which are different colors and are very healthy)
 Examples: Red = apple, peppers, cherries, tomatoes, strawberries; Orange = carrot,
orange (fruit); Yellow = banana, pineapple; Green = lettuce, spinach, broccoli, peas;
Blue = blueberries; Purple = grapes, eggplant
o Each child will have a turn rolling the dice, and depending on which color they land on,
they will say a healthy food that is that color
o More about “eating the rainbow”—aka: eating foods that are bright & colorful and contain
healthy nutrients http://blog.superhealthykids.com/2008/01/day-2-eat-the-rainbow/
o Inspired by this lesson: http://blog.superhealthykids.com/2010/02/classroom-lessonfruits-and-vegetables/
Activity 3 – Distinguish between healthy versus unhealthy foods to eat.
 Sugar experiment
o Show and compare the amounts of sugar in various foods (such as cereal, soda, fruit,
water, yogurt, etc.)
o Fill containers with appropriate amount of sugar
o To make these calculations on your own, simply use the total # of sugar grams from the
label and divide by 4. That will give you the teaspoons of sugar in any given product. So if
a product says 16 grams of sugar, there are 4 teaspoons of sugar in it.
o More information: http://blog.superhealthykids.com/2011/08/how-much-sugar-doyour-kids-eat/
 Sorting good/bad foods
o Flashcards of good and bad foods. (good foods = , bad foods =  -- will have smiley and
sad face in order to make two separate piles for the good vs. bad foods; also students can
connect good foods with being happy & healthy)
o As the sorting occurs, explain:
 Bad Foods:
o Potato chips – lots of oil, lots of salt (high blood pressure)
o Soda – high sugar content and acidic (bad for teeth)
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
o Candy – high sugar content
o Ice cream – high fat content
o French fries and other fried foods – lots of oil and salt
o Popcorn – High salt and butter
Good foods:
o Oranges, kiwis, grapefruit, strawberries, cantaloupe – vitamin C (immune
system – keeps you from getting sick) also “good” sugars
o Bananas, apricots, figs – potassium (good for muscles, good for nervous
stomach)
o Celery, lettuce, broccoli, peppers – fiber (help you digest) and other vitamins
o Beans and Non-Fatty Meats – protein
o Milk – calcium (strong bones and teeth)
o Carrots, tomatoes – vitamin A (good for your eyes)
o Fish – omega-3 fatty acids (“good” fat – need some fats in your diet)
Wrap-Up Activities
 Healthy vs. unhealthy game – label half the room healthy & the other half unhealthy; list foods
and have the children decide which half of the room best describes the food
 Puppet Show! Someone's Grumpy! From http://www.preschool-plan-it.com/preschoolnutrition.html
o Choose 2 puppets who can have a conversation with your preschoolers about nutrition
and healthy foods. One of my colleagues uses 2 puppets and they typically have a
"problem" that needs to be solved that we may be seeing in class! It could be not sharing,
running, etc. You could use 2 puppets for this Preschool Nutritioncircle time activity!
o One of the puppets should have a cranky attitude and the other READY TO PLAY!
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Puppet 1: I'm SO happy to be at school! What do you want to do today? Want to build a super-duper tower with
blocks?
Puppet 2: No, I want to just sit here.
Puppet 1: Oh, wait--you like to paint! Let's go PAINT a super-duper tower together!
Puppet 2: NO...I want to just SIT here.
Puppet 1: Ooookkkaaayyyy... I'll bring some puzzles over here…we can do them together while you "just sit
here"!
Puppet 2: NO! I DON'T WANT TO PLAY!
Puppet 1: Why? Why are you so cranky! It's a great day! We're at school! There's lots to do! I had my FAVORITE
breakfast and you are wearing your FAVORITE sneakers today! Why aren't you happy?
Puppet 2: Well I didn't have MY favorite breakfast. I got up late and wouldn't eat what my Mom had for
breakfast, I didn't feel like it.
Puppet 1: Oooohhhh! You know, breakfast is very, very, very, very, important. Even if you don't feel like eating.
Remember what teacher said? Breakfast gives us the energy to have fun and be happy.
Puppet 2: Yeah, I know. I wish I did eat breakfast, my stomach feels grumpy...it's making funny noises.
Puppet 1: Because you're hungry. It's almost snack time. How about if we BOTH make sure we eat snack and
have energy and then maybe you'll feel like playing?
Puppet 2: OK! And from now on, I"m going to eat breakfast, even if I don't feel like it!
Puppet 1: Me too! Oh, I hear the teacher singing the clean up song! Let's help clean up so we can have snack!
Puppets 1 & 2: It's time to clean up, it's time to clean up we gonna have snack and eat it all up! hahaha!
Other Resources/Activity Guides
USDA Team Nutrition Activity Book: http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/resources/teamupbooklet.pdf
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