Health & Nutrition - The Food Pyramid

November is "Good Nutrition Month", making it a great time to review healthy eating habits and the importance of an active lifestyle with your preschoolers. We found a great {comprehensive!} lesson plan from the Florida Department of Health that includes lots of downloadable handouts, posters, and other goodies!

They suggest beginning the lesson with an introduction to the food pyramid - using the handout to show students the various food groups as well as examples of the types of foods that fall in these categories. [Extension: To assess their grasp of the new information, consider playing a game - holding up food cards and having students yell out the food group in which they belong. You might even attempt an "Around the World" type format.]

Another review game they suggest playing is the "Food Group Relay". Once again, you'll need food cards {or cute plastic and/or felt play food} to set out on a table. Students take turns running to the table and selecting a card/toy from the food group that's been called, running back and placing the food in the paper grocery bag. This is a great way to review food groups, help your kiddos get their 'wiggles' out, and remind students that an active lifestyle is very important!

These are just two of the activities suggested in the Florida Department of Health's introductory lesson to healthy eating and nutrition!