HEALTHY EATING ACTIVITIES

HEALTHY EATING ACTIVITIES

The activities in this section teach the basics about the foods we eat. The first activity emphasizes the importance of keeping food clean and safe to eat. The rest of the activities in this section introduce the concepts of the food groups, the importance of water and other healthy drinks, and how foods are grown. The activities in this section emphasize positive messages about the foods children need to eat more of. Instead of labeling foods as good or bad, the activities explain how some foods are needed everyday while others (sometimes foods) should only be occasional treats. The other goal of this section is to create opportunities for children to become familiar with healthy choices through games, crafts, and tasting challenges so that they will be more likely to make smart choices.

Things to remember when doing activities in this section:

• Be sure to remind children to wash their hands before snack activities and to wash fruits and vegetables when they are used to prepare snacks.
• Make sure the food allergy permission slip in the family outreach section has been filled out and returned before giving children new foods to try.
• If you do not have the NDC Food Model Cards suggested for use in HE-2, HE-3, HE-6, and HE-9 (see Materials List in Supplementary Materials section), ask children to bring in grocery store flyers and magazines with food pictures in them and construct your own (see Constructing Your Own Food Model Cards in the Resources section of this manual).
• “Sometimes foods” are foods that are high in added sugars and fats. Examples would be candy, soda, chips, cookies, cake, donuts, etc. “Sometimes foods” contain a lot of calories and not many important nutrients, so they are best eaten only sometimes as a treat, and not every day as part of a healthy diet. There are many words used to describe this general category or type of food (junk food, empty calories, unhealthy snacks). We try to be consistent in using the term “sometimes foods.” There is, of course, no really clear dividing line between sometimes and everyday healthy foods. We hope this will be part of an ongoing discussion between you, the children and your community.