Kentucky Beef Council
Kids In the Kitchen: Nutritional Necessities for Young Cooks
Updated 2/12/2016
MyPyramid Trivia
1.
Show students the MyPyramid display and ask if they have seen the new food
guide pyramid yet? Mention:
 The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is one part of our
federal government concerned with nutrition.
 In 2005, USDA developed MyPyramid to remind all Americans to eat more
healthfully and to be physically active. MyPyramid replaced the old Food
Guide Pyramid.
 USDA even developed a special poster called MyPyramid for Kids designed
especially for students your age.
 Take a look at the Meet the Power Foods and MyPyramid for Kids posters.
 How are they similar?
 How are they different?
 Did you notice that the bands on MyPyramid are different widths? Why do
you think they were drawn that way? (To get all the nutrients you need, you
should eat more from some food groups than others)
2.
Go over the MyPyramid with the students. Ask students if they know what the
orange strip stands for? (Grains) Do so with all of the colored strips
(Green=Vegetables, Red=fruits, Yellow=Fats/Oils (do not label because it is used
sparingly), Blue=Milk, Purple=Meat & Beans)
3.
Next, to help students remember the recommended number of daily servings for
each of the food groups, teach them this two-part mnemonic tool:
 Teach students the sequence of the five food groups on the MyPyramid for
Kids and Meet the Power Foods posters: Grains, Vegetables, Fruit, Milk,
and Meat & Beans. To remember this sequence of the food groups teach a
5-word phrase in which the first letter of each word of the phrase corresponds
to the first letter of a food group name: Good Value For My Money
 Once students have memorized the sequence of the five food groups, teach
the 6-5-3-3-2 chant with the following hand motion sequence to help students
remember the recommended number of daily servings:
Action
Chant
Hold up three fingers on each hand
“Six Grains”
and swing hands forward
With all five fingers up on the right
“Five Vegetables”
hand, swing the right hand forward
With three fingers up on the left hand,
“Three Fruits”
swing the left hand forward
With three fingers up on right hand,
“Three Milks”
swing right hand forward
With only pointer fingers up on both
“Two Meats”
hands, swing both hands forward
 Have students practice the chant and hand motions several times so they
have a chance to get the recommended serving numbers into their
memories.
Kentucky Beef Council
Kids In the Kitchen: Nutritional Necessities for Young Cooks
Updated 2/12/2016
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9.
After completing the chant, explain to children that beef has ZIP!
ZIP
is an acronym for Zinc, Iron, and Protein. All three of these nutrients are
essential for people, especially growing kids like themselves. Then tell them that
on the pyramid, there is a word scramble to decode these nutrients.
Also, explain to students that the pyramid also has a picture puzzle game. There
are pictures of all different types of foods. Match up the food with the food group
it belongs in. Also, place the name of the food group on the appropriate color
strip.
Then have students break up into small groups and place food group names and
foods in the right place on the MyPyramid. Remind them that the less nutritional
value it has, the higher it goes on the pyramid.
Let children interact with the MyPyramid display and help them if they need any
assistance.
Lastly, tell students that another side of the pyramid explains the 29 leans cuts of
beef. The rule for the Meat & Beans food group is to “go lean with your protein”.
Beef has 29 lean cuts to choose from that fit between a skinless chicken breast
and chicken thigh for content. So good news, beef is just as “skinny” as chicken!
Teacher needs to remove materials off the pyramid and place them back on the
table once the station is complete.