Need help w/kids nutrition project

[Dace]

I was asked to lead a nutrition project by my DD's brownie troop. The goal being to get them to try new foods and to eat less junk.

My first thought was to assign foods different point values;
Fruits and veggies 3
Protein 2
Whole grains 1 ( this may be too broad for 8 yr olds though)

I thought we would talk about how important fruits and veggies are, as well as protein and about how junk food offers no nutrition at all....then break into pairs and each develop a sample menu for a full day, breakfast, lunch, dinner and two snacks and then the pairs could present to the rest of the troop, add up scores based on the point system above and see who wins.

Then we would have a contest for the next two weeks to see who can earn the most points....they would be challenged to add in more fruits and veggies while minimizing the junk. As well as understanding that meat/ protein is important...not going to bash vegetarians, just teach the kids what forms of protein are...eggs, cheese, yogurt, meat, beans etc.

I wonder what all you creative minds think....any other ideas to make this a fun challenge? I do not want to make this a burden for parents so any constructive criticism is welcome!

 

[freemotion]

Make it a burden for parents. They are the ones in charge of the diet of their kids, and they will do well to learn, too!

I think I'd go with food lists along with the point values. Point values are quite misleading, and there will be those who think they get more points if they eat a LOT of 1's!

How about making it more like a ....shoot, I can never think of the word.....those hunt games where you get a list and have to find as many items on the list as possible? And put a number on top of each list....the veggie list will have a high daily number, the grain list a low daily number, and the meat/dairy list a moderate daily number.

If they go over the numbers in the grain/junk list, they double and subtract the excess numbers from their total. A nice prize for the winners.

Scavenger hunt!!!! That's it!

 

[abifae]

In my chemistry class in high school, we were encouraged to bring in junk food and try to figure out what we were really eating LOL.

Obviously that is a bit over the kids heads, but looking at what they're eating is always interesting. Maybe encourage them to google search the ingredients?

How involved are the parents? Are they going to be annoyed at their kids telling them they're not cooking healthy and to add more veggies?

Can you do a special prize for the kid who COOKS the most healthy things? Instead of the parents cooking it up for the kid?

 

[Dace]

Hahaha.....ok let me rephrase.
I want the kids to push their parents for more fruits and veggies! But I don't want the parents to hate me because I have sent home too much homework!

A scavenger hunt? I could bring a stack of old magazines and have them cut out pics of proteins and fruits and veg....then we could paste them all up on a board....but we only have 1 hour. So I am still leaning toward each pair developing a menu and then we can discuss each one and where it hits the mark and where it falls short.

Do you think I should just skip the points for whole grains and only award points for fruit/veg and protein? Should we subtract one point for each sugary thing? That would really get their attention! Maybe that woud encourage them to eat less sugar since it will make it harder to see their numbers add up.

The other thing I am going to do is bring snack.....some new fruits and veggies for them to try. Jicama, passion fruit...not sure what else, hot food will be hard as the meeting is at the library after school. Otherwise I would add in oven baked sweet potato fries!

 

[VickiLynn]

I don't know if this would work for you, but I once did a workshop for daycare providers, where I passed out copies of ingredient lists from different packaged foods, and the class had to guess what food item the ingredient list came from. Very eye-opening for them.

 

[Dace]

In my chemistry class in high school, we were encouraged to bring in junk food and try to figure out what we were really eating LOL.

Obviously that is a bit over the kids heads, but looking at what they're eating is always interesting. Maybe encourage them to google search the ingredients?

How involved are the parents? Are they going to be annoyed at their kids telling them they're not cooking healthy and to add more veggies?

Can you do a special prize for the kid who COOKS the most healthy things? Instead of the parents cooking it up for the kid?

One thing that I thought of was to write out on a board the ingredients of cool whip next to the ingredients for whipped cream...the have both on hand and do a taste test...BUT that may be too much info and I think we should start with minimizing the junk and adding in more fruti and veg. I think they should push their moms to add more veggies but they can also swap out junky snacks afterschool for an apple or cheese stick, you know...putting it in their hands not moms.

After this lesson, I would like to do one on processed foods....using the cool whip example....maybe do the same contest but have it be based on the number on ingredients in the snacks. Pushing them to eat more whole foods.

 

[noobiechickenlady]

I don't know if this would work for you, but I once did a workshop for daycare providers, where I passed out copies of ingredient lists from different packaged foods, and the class had to guess what food item the ingredient list came from. Very eye-opening for them.

That's a great idea!
I like the idea of subtracting points for any junk food.
Sort of a scorecard. Hey, there's a thought. You could have them decorate scorecards for their meals and that's where they mark down their foods. Then next time they come in and you award points.
Free's word search sounds like a good one, too. Something fairly easy for you to do before they get there. Just have them printed off or written up on the board.

Menu idea sounds good to me, you could also do a multiple choice type thing, where they pick out the best choice. You know, an apple, a bag of chips and a cookie. Which one is the best snack?

 

[Dace]

Oh that is good Noobie!

I can make a little book of index cards...hole punch them and tie with a ribbon and they can take those home to track their points.

I like Vickilynns idea, but may be a bit over their head...but a modified version like my cool whip experiment and a focus on whole foods vs packaged crap would be good for another meeting.

I need some visuals for sure....too bad I don't have a felt board with a bunch of felt foods! That would be fun to play with. Maybe I could cut out bunches of different foods from magazines and put felt on the back.....wait. I don't really have time for that

Great ideas....keep em coming!

 

[TanksHill]

Dace, how old are these girls???

 

[abifae]

I need some visuals for sure....too bad I don't have a felt board with a bunch of felt foods! That would be fun to play with. Maybe I could cut out bunches of different foods from magazines and put felt on the back.....wait. I don't really have time for that

Great ideas....keep em coming!

Dace... that's an idea to store up for... I can see you using it in classes with adults and kids in the future.

Just collect felt as it is on sale and you have the money.