Teach basic information about nutrition by explaining that nutrition refers to the food they eat and that food gives the body energy. Show students a video or poster that illustrates a simple explanation of the digestive system. Explain that the digestive system helps turn nutrition into energy that the body needs to work properly. Have students chant or sing the names of the digestive system's main parts: mouth, esophagus, stomach, intestines and liver as you explain the job each part does in helping the body gain nutrition.
Explain the food pyramid to students, using a poster or computer graphic to point out the names of the food groups and how each group has its own colored section. Show students that some food groups have a larger section on the pyramid than others. Explain that this means that people should eat more of these items to have proper nutrition. Create a bulletin board size food pyramid model for students that matches the color and size designations of those on the official pyramid. This means for example, that the orange grain paper is larger than the purple meat paper. Give students magazines and instruct them to cut or tear out pictures of foods to glue onto the class food pyramid as a model and reminder of healthy nutrition.
Assist students' ability to make healthy food choices by having them create a nutrition collage. Provide them with a red, a yellow and a green piece of paper. Give students magazines containing food pictures and advertisements. Instruct students to cut or tear out pictures of food items. Explain that students are to glue food items that provide good nutrition on the green "go, eat" paper, foods that provide very little nutrition or are unhealthy on the red "stop, don't eat" paper and foods that provide some nutrition and are acceptable to have sometimes, on the yellow "caution, eat sometimes" paper.
Tell students that having healthy nutrition also means safe handling of foods. Teach students rules such as hand washing, keeping refrigerated foods cold, not eating raw foods and washing fruits and vegetables. Create a dramatic play kitchen station as a class learning center. Provide toy food items, hand cleaning supplies, toy cooking utensils, a tub to use as a sink and a cooler to pretend is a refrigerator if no child's kitchen is available. Hang up a poster with the safe food handling rules on it in words and pictures. Direct students to practice safe food handling while at the center.