Choose five corners/walls to be stations. Label each of the five stations as one of the five main food groups (fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy, protein). The teacher will then close his or her eyes and count aloud from 10 down to zero.
As the teacher counts, the students move quickly around the gym or play space to any food group wall/corner of their choice. The students need to select and stop at one of the five stations before the teacher reaches zero.
When the teacher is down to zero, with eyes still closed, he or she will choose a food group, call out that name (such as vegetables) and all students standing at that station will be eliminated. The eliminated students will then go to the center of the gym and the game starts over with the remaining students. The game continues until only a few students remain standing and they are considered the winners of the game or that round.
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.
Have the students spread out so they each have their own space to work.
Tell the students to hold the feather high in the air and let it go. Have them watch how it slowly and softly floats to the ground.
Now challenge the kids to the following feather tests. Have them hold the feather up in the air as high as is possible again and let it go.
As it floats down, see if they can catch it or have it land on the following body parts:
back of the hand
elbow or forearm
shoe or foot
lay on floor and have it land on your back
knee
nose
any other body part.
Additional Feather Activities
The feathers could be used to represent the colors of the five food groups:
orange for grains
red for fruits
green for vegetables
blue for milk and dairy products
purple for protein.
Spread the feathers out on the floor. When you say “go,” have the students run to the feathers, grab one, and then quickly go to a corner or area of the room that represents that food group. The students with the green feathers could group in one corner and so on. The students with black, brown or yellow feathers could all represent the fats/oils group.
Follow up this activity by having the students think of a healthful snack or food item that is the same color as the feather or think of a food item that is from the food category that their feather represents.
Contagious is a game that teaches the importance of good hand washing to prevent the spread of germs and illness.
Start with two players designated as “it” (the contagious germs). The rest of the players spread out in the gym or designated area.
The players that are the germs work to tag the other players. Once another person has been tagged they are considered contagious and become a germ. They either hold hands or link arms with the first germ to become a two-person (germ) team.
This germ team moves around the gym trying to tag or “infect” other players with their germs. Each tagged person becomes part of the growing link of germs.
Once the group of germs has six people, they divide into two groups. The game ends when all players have been caught.
The goal of the game is to stay healthy and free from the germs by moving quickly about the room and avoid being tagged. Emphasize the importance in our daily lives to wash hands regularly to avoid the spread of germs.
Modification Option
Youth who use a wheelchair can also participate! Make it more challenging for the others by having them sit their bottoms on scooters (if available).
After a messy art project involving paper, place four waste baskets around the room (one in each corner). Ask youth to clean up the mess by crumpling up the paper and shooting the paper balls into the waste baskets. Youth must be standing before making a basket. The game is over when all paper is picked up (including any paper around the baskets, floor and desks).
Choose three students to be the “chasers.” Have these three students pick one of the five colors from the Choose MyPlate food categories: green for vegetables, red for fruit, blue for dairy, purple for protein or orange for grain. You can also include the fats/oils group if you would like. Once they have picked their color, have them each choose one nutritious food item from that food category.
Have the rest of students line up at one end of the gym and the three chasers in the middle of the gym. One of the chasers tells the group which food category was chosen. He or she then tells their classmates that they need to decide to be one of the three chosen food items.
The chaser calls out one of the three food choices. All of the students who have chosen that food item run from one side of the gym to the other without getting tagged by the chasers. If the student is tagged they are out of the round and need to go to the side of the gym and wait for the next round to start. For example: The fruit category is chosen by the chaser group. From the fruit category, the first student picks strawberries, the second student picks grapes and the third student picks watermelon.
One of the chasers tells the group that they have chosen the fruit category. He or she then tells their classmates that they need to decide if they would like to be a strawberry, a grape or a watermelon.
The chaser calls out grapes. All of the students who have chosen to be grapes run from one side of the gym to the other without getting tagged by the chasers.
If the chasers would like all of the students to run at once, they might call:
“Fruit Salad” for the fruit group, “Salsa” for the vegetable group, “Milk shake” for the dairy group, “Popcorn” for the grain group, “Chili” for the protein (meat and bean group), “Grease” for the fat and oil group
Or some other food category name that the group has decided upon.
The game starts over when there are only three participants left to run. These three students then become the new chasers and a new food category and foods choices are chosen.
Have students lie on their back with arms and legs straight up in the air. Instruct them to tighten their abdominal muscles or pull their belly button in (engage abs), then have students lower their right leg and left arm at the same time while leaving their opposite arm and leg in a stationary position. Instruct them to switch back and forth and remember to keep breathing.
try to hold the balloon between two people without using hands.
The students need to walk or run a certain distance without letting the balloon touch the ground. If the balloon touches the ground, they would need to go back to the starting place and start over.
Sit on the edge of the chair with your back straight. Pull your belly button in to engage your ab muscles and protect your back muscles. With your knee bent, lift one leg up slightly and hold for a few seconds. Straighten your leg out as far as you can without dropping it down to the floor. Bring your leg back into a bent position but don’t lower your foot back to the ground. Repeat extensions to a straightened leg 20 times. Then lower your leg down and put your foot on the floor. Repeat with the other side. This exercise is great for strengthening your leg muscles!
