With all the prepackaged snacks, it can be hard to teach your preschooler to make good choices when it comes to eating. This preschool nutrition lesson teaches about healthy and unhealthy snacks. It even includes a healthy snack recipe that you make with your class.
Use this preschool nutrition lesson plan to teach your preschool class how to make good nutrition choices. You could also use this recipe for an at home playdate!
Materials
Examples of healthy and unhealthy snacks
Construction paper
Crayons/markers
8 cups Chex cereal, any variety
1 cup dried fruit bits
1 cup raisins
1 cup peanuts*
1 cup m & ms*
2 cups Goldfish crackers, any variety (optional)
Small plastic cups
*Be sure to check with the parents in your class about peanut allergies. If anyone in your class has a peanut allergy, talk to the parents involved about peanut free options.
Prior Knowledge
Show students the examples of snacks that you brought in and ask students to name them. Have students tell what they brought in for a snack.
Teach
Talk about how food is made up of different ingredients and how your body needs certain vitamins to make it work. Sort the snacks you brought into two groups, healthy and unhealthy. Talk about why you put each snack into each group, such as too much sugar or lots of vitamins.
Procedure
After you finish sorting the snacks, pass out construction paper and crayons. Have students draw a line down the middle of their paper or fold it in half. Have them draw a picture of a healthy snack on one side and an unhealthy snack on the other.
When you are finished drawing the pictures, get out the ingredients for the trail mix. Have students take turns helping you measure out each ingredient. Place all ingredients into a bowl and mix together, which your students can help you do. Use the small plastic cups to serve the trail mix to your students to enjoy.
Assess
Have your students tell you an example of a healthy and unhealthy snack.
Extend
Have the parents help your students keep a food diary of what they eat in one day. Have them put a green check beside the healthy choices and a red check beside the unhealthy choices.
Nutrition Fun and Games
This series is intended to teach your preschool class about making healthy choices. It also teaches preschoolers how to begin using MyPyramid.
1. MyPyramid Fun and Games
2. Nutrition Fun and Healthy Snacks for Preschoolers
This post is part of the series: Nutrition Fun and Games
These articles provide a lesson on nutrition and some games to help teach about MyPyramid. Preschoolers will enjoy playing the games and making the yummy snack while learning about nutrition.
