The United States Department of Agriculture's MyPyramid was developed to provide Americans with guidance when choosing their diet. The MyPyramid website offers activities for children to teach them to have a healthy lifestyle. Allowing children to have positive experience while providing a variety of healthy foods, sets a good example of healthy eating and physical activity. Always remember to make food fun!
Simple Kitchen Activities
Teach children the MyPyramid guidelines by displaying the poster in kitchen or food area and having them name which foods belong to which group. For a more challenging activity, try having you kid identify the food groups of combination foods. Try discussing each food group and the what those foods taste. Allow kids to explore each group my making meals that contain one item from each group and having them explain to which group each food belongs. Creating drawings and colorings of different food groups and foods can be fun for young children.
Children are starting to learn work with foods. Adding ingredients, scooping and mashing potatoes, stirring batter, and assembling pizza are easy ways to get them acquainted with the kitchen. This age group may also help cleaning the kitchen, wiping tables, and washing produce. Older children can perform more advanced activities, such as peeling fruits, cracking eggs, measuring ingredients, preparing recipes cutting soft foods with dull blades, and setting the table.
Making MyPyramid Fun
Making eating healthy can be exciting and fun for young ones, and encourages them eat right. Some fun activities are cutting foods into fun shapes with cookie cutters, from low fat cheeses, and making tower or spelling words from whole grain crackers and stick pretzels. Encourage kids to create their own snacks, such as trail mix or sandwiches, and fruit salads. Let them taste different types of vegetables with dips, humus and other bean dips. Make shapes out of foods to put together include; potato pals, which are a baked potato with a face. Make this by splitting a baked potato in half and adding peas for eyes, a halved cherry tomato for a nose, and a low fat cheese wedge for a smile. Try using different foods to make interesting figures.
Children need physical activity to help grow up strong, and develop strong bones. Encourage kids to have physical activities as a part of special occasions, such as a birthday party centered on physical activity, relay races or back-yard Olympics.
Tags: physical activity, baked potato, each food, each group, Encourage kids, food groups, having them