Description

Have students bring in one or two Nutrition Facts Labels from home or provide them with one. Have the student read the ingredient list. (If the student is too young to read, the teacher can read the list.) When reading the label, look for words that:

• are hard to say
• do not sound like whole food ingredients, for example, apple (foods that you eat that contain one ingredient)
• sounds like chemicals are artificial colors or flavors.

Tell the students to jump up vertically for each number of words in the ingredient list (i.e. 6 ingredients=6 vertical jumps) and then have them jump side to side for every word that they cannot pronounce or don’t know how to say (i.e. can’t pronounce 3 words=jump side to side 3 times).

Note: Any other variations of body movements will work for this activity.

Compare these “foods” to foods that do not have an ingredient list, like apples or celery.  The more ingredients listed on a food package and the more words that are hard to pronounce means that the food is likely more processed and may not be as healthful for us.

Another version would be to compare a homemade recipe, such as mayonnaise, to a store bought version.  What are the differences?

Description

Create a chart with a list of the students’ names and each day of the month. (Instead of the student’s names, you could also use a “code name” that each student picks for themselves.  Students could choose a healthier food item such as kiwi, mango, steak, etc., to use as their code name.)

Before lining up for lunch, have students stand up next to their desks, or if space allows have students spread out in the classroom. Have all of the students do 10 jumping jacks and 10 toe touches, alternating 2 times for a total of 20 jumping jacks and 20 toe touches. Have the students add a sticker to the chart under their name for that day if they participated in the class activity or did some type of physical activity outside of school.

When the students return from lunch, ask who ate a serving of a fruit or vegetable. For every day the student eats a fruit or vegetable, he or she can put a sticker on that day.

At the end of the month, tally up the food and activity stickers.  See if the class can improve the tally each month.

Description

Using plastic or paper food models, have students take turns filling up a paper plate.  When the students are finished, have them look to see if all the five food groups (fruits, vegetables, grains, protein and dairy) are on their plate.

Another variation would be to have each student draw last night’s dinner on the paper plate, then add any missing food groups.  Have each student come up with unique ways to fill their plate. For example, if the plate is missing vegetables, the student could say they’d go to the farmers market to pick up green beans.

Description

Hand out one jump rope per student. Allow students to jump rope for five minutes. After they have had a chance to jump rope on their own, encourage them to try the following jump rope ideas or come up with their own unique way of getting exercise with a jump rope.

• X-it – Cross your feet so your legs look like and X.
• Slalom – Jump side to side like you are going downhill.
• Jumping jacks – Move your legs apart and together like you are doing a jumping jack.
• Twister – Jump and twist at the waist.
• Hop on one foot – Jump on one foot at a time.
• Alternating step – Jump on one foot at a time, kicking the other foot out in front like the running man.
• Boxer – Jump rope like boxers do, running while jumping.
• Heel tap – Tap your heels in front of you while jumping, one foot at a time.
• Toe tap – Tap your toe in front of you while jumping, one foot at a time.

Description

1. Introduce the pedometer and tell the students that the device is a battery operated step counter that tracks how many steps we take.  On average, 2,000 steps equals one mile.  We should strive to take 10,000 steps each day.

2. Demonstrate how to use the pedometer.  The pedometer should be secured to the waist/pant line, straight up from either knee cap. It should be level and not tilted.

3. Help the students attach the pedometer correctly to their waist band. Spend four to five minutes per activity in the gym to allow students the opportunity to experience the fun and benefits of wearing a pedometer.

Pedometer activities could include: walking, running, hopping, and skipping or Choose MyPlate Chasers.

Equipment activities could include: jump rope, hacky sack or basketball.

• Ask the students which activity gives them the most/least steps in a certain amount of time?

• Have the students take a break from the activity to feel their heart beating faster.

• Remind them their heart is a muscle and it’s getting stronger and healthier with the activities they are doing.

Description

Five minutes before the class is ready to go to the gym or outside to do the physical activity, have the students do the following hand/heart pump.

The class should stand up, push their chairs in, if appropriate, and raise both hands to shoulder level. Open and close each hand continually: close the hand, and then open it all the way.

Continue this pattern (open, close, open, etc.) for 5 minutes. During this time, keep watching the students. If someone stops, remind him or her to keep going.

After 1 minute, ask if they are tired of doing it yet. If no one is tired of it yet, continue to do it for 5 minutes.

Ask again if anyone is tired of doing this hand pumping yet.

When someone finally announces that he or she is tired, explain that this hand pumping action is just like the heart. The heart is continually pumping and cannot stop at any time. When it is tired, it has to keep on going.

Explain that this is one reason that you have to keep feeding it good, healthful food. The heart needs good food to keep it going, whether it is tired or not. If there is too much fat around the heart and other parts of the body, it makes the heart work harder in order to get the blood to all parts of the body.

Make sure to eat the right foods so that the heart can work well. Avoid eating too much, or the wrong types of food, because the heart has to work all the harder to do its job.

As you are walking to the gym or outdoors, have the students continue to pump their hands all the way there. Gather the students to talk about the activity that they will next be doing. Have them continue to pump their hands. As you notice students “dropping out,” remind them to keep doing it.

Description

Use a paper plate as a steering wheel.  Each student should have their own paper plate and place their hands on either side of the “wheel.” The students will “drive” (walk) around the room, gym space or outdoor area.

The teacher will than say outloud different commands that will cause the students to change their pace or the way they “drive” their vehicle. These commands may include speed bump, stop signs, red/yellow/green light, speed of a police car or fire truck.