Four Fun Ways to Teach Children About Nutrition | Kaplan Early Learning Company (2024)

Here are five fun ways you can teach the children in your care about nutrition:

1. Play The Veggie Game

Adapted from an activity featured in The Budding Chef, The Veggie Game is a great way to teach preschoolers about vegetables while introducing them to foods they may not normally eat.

Materials:

  • A tray
  • Carrots
  • Broccoli
  • Brussels sprouts
  • Green peppers
  • A head of lettuce
  • Onion
  • Zucchini

Directions:

  • Place the vegetables on a tray
  • Introduce each vegetable to children and talk about each one.
  • Read the riddles below, and see if children can guess which vegetable matches the riddle.
  • After children solve each riddle, pass the vegetable around for children to touch and smell.

Riddles:

  1. I am long and orange, and you can eat me raw or cooked.
  2. I can be yellow, red, white, or green. Sometimes I can be very hot. People often put me on their hamburgers.
  3. I am crunchy and green. I often have little strings on me. Sometimes, children enjoy eating me with peanut butter.
  4. I look like a group of little trees with stems and green leaves. I am very good for you.
  5. You can cook me in many different ways; I can be mashed, fried, or baked. I can be red, white, brown, or even purple, and I have little eyes on my skin.
  6. I look like a green cabbage, I am full of Vitamin C, and I am very cute and small.
  7. I am sometimes green, sometimes red, and sometimes yellow. But I almost always have a bell shape.
  8. I am long and green. Inside, I am a whitish color. Some cooks use me in breads or cakes and as a vegetable for dinner.
  9. I am green and round. People use my leaves for salads and sandwiches.

Answers: 1. Carrot | 2. Onion | 3. Celery | 4. Broccoli | 5. Potato | 6. Brussels Sprout | 7. Pepper | 8. Zucchini |9. Lettuce

2. Play Healthy Foods Bingo

For students in kindergarten through fifth grade, the Healthy Foods Bingo game is a great way for children to learn about correct portion sizes look like. Simple make your own bingo cards using the USDA's MyPlate and read out the correct portion size of the food you call out.

3. Discuss Nutrition with Bilingual Photo Food Cards

Using Bilingual Photo Food Cards in the classroom is the perfect way to discuss nutrition with students. Not only will they learn important healthy food habits, but the cards will teach them another language (cards labeled in Spanish and English) and introduce them to a number of food groups.

4. Use MyPlate to Make A Meal

With the MyPlate Felt Set, have children make their favorite meals using the included food pieces. When they're finished making their ideal meal, go over the nutrition value of it and healthier alternatives.

Four Fun Ways to Teach Children About Nutrition | Kaplan Early Learning Company (2024)

FAQs

Four Fun Ways to Teach Children About Nutrition | Kaplan Early Learning Company? ›

Nutrition education can take place in the classroom, either through a stand-alone health education class or combined into other subjects including2,5: Counting with pictures of fruits and vegetables. Learning fractions by measuring ingredients for a recipe.

How do you teach kids about nutrition in a fun way? ›

5 fun ways to teach your kids about nutrition
  1. Involving kids in the kitchen. ...
  2. Eating together as a family. ...
  3. Growing some of your own veggies or herbs. ...
  4. Including kids in packing their lunch boxes. ...
  5. Create games around food.

What are some methods you could use to educate others about nutrition? ›

Nutrition education can take place in the classroom, either through a stand-alone health education class or combined into other subjects including2,5: Counting with pictures of fruits and vegetables. Learning fractions by measuring ingredients for a recipe.

How do you introduce nutrition to children? ›

Here are some guidelines to follow:
  1. Establish a predictable schedule of meals and snacks. It's OK to choose not to eat when both parents and kids know when to expect the next meal or snack.
  2. Don't force kids to clean their plates. ...
  3. Don't bribe or reward kids with food. ...
  4. Don't use food as a way of showing love.

What way might you be able to implement nutrition curriculum in a preschool classroom? ›

Teaching Preschoolers About Nutrition
  • Give preschoolers simple nutrition guidelines. ...
  • Encourage preschoolers to try new foods. ...
  • Keep healthy snacks on hand in your classroom. ...
  • Discuss nutrition through a variety of fun activities. ...
  • Make sure various food groups are represented in the dramatic play area.
Mar 23, 2015

What are the nutrition activities? ›

Nutrition Activities for Kids and Teenagers
  • Crossword Puzzle. ...
  • Place Mats. ...
  • Math: Nutrition Fractions (Middle School) ...
  • Building a Food Plate. ...
  • New Foods. ...
  • Math: Opening a Restaurant. ...
  • Math: Post-Workout Smoothie (Grades 4–6) ...
  • Analyzing Food Labels.

How do you teach nutrition? ›

Information for educators
  1. Build food skills and curiosity about food. ...
  2. Apply a trauma-informed approach. ...
  3. Talk about all food neutrally. ...
  4. Hold off on teaching about nutrition until middle or high school. ...
  5. Talk about food as more than fuel or nutrients. ...
  6. Use the concept of “variety” to teach about food in an inclusive way.

What is nutrition education in early childhood? ›

Nutrition education in early childhood should begin to teach children the relationship between food and health and expose children to a variety of learning experiences about foods to help children develop sound attitudes and knowledge about food, nutrition, and health.

How do you teach kindergarten healthy eating? ›

Encourage children to listen to their bodies and eat only until full, rather than cleaning their plates. Giving children healthy snack ideas and good snack options will help them fuel up on healthy foods. Aim for snacks that contain foods from the four food groups and that are low in sugar, salt and fat.

Why should we teach children about nutrition? ›

Early education ultimately helps children eat more fruits and vegetables and to make smarter food choices as they grow older. We need children to learn about nutrition because they are our future. Educating them will make sure they live to see their future.

How do you teach preschoolers about food groups? ›

Prompt the children to name foods such as bread, crackers, cereal, pasta, etc. Continue the discussion with the vegetables, fruits, dairy, and protein groups. Say, “Eating different foods from each food group will help you grow and think and give you energy to play!”

What is an activity lesson that can help preschoolers learn about nutrition? ›

Circle time is a great time to sing and move to songs about nutrition. Sing “Healthy Choices” to the tune of “Where is Thumbkin?” and encourage the students to hold up matching cards when the food group is called. Song and movement are great ways to get preschoolers involved in the learning process.

What is the mode of nutrition in fun? ›

Fungi obtain nutrients from dead, organic matter, hence they are called saprophytes. Fungi produce some kind of digestive enzymes for breaking down complex food into a simple form of food. Such, simple form of food is utilized by fungi. This is defined as the saprophytic mode of nutrition.

How to introduce the topic nutrition? ›

  1. 'Nutrition is the branch of science that studies the process by which living organisms take in and use food for the maintenance of life, growth, reproduction, the functioning of organs and tissues, and the production of energy. ...
  2. Foods vary in their energy and nutrient content.

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