Food Bingo takes an old favorite and makes it nutrition-friendly. Try using real food choices kids may not have heard of, such as rutabagas, sweet potatoes and cherry tomatoes. Intrigue for the new veggies should build while the game is happening, so have prepared samples available for snack afterward.
Take the abstract "eat more healthy food" concept and apply it with a build-your own-food guide pyramid game. Piles of pictures of whole grains, fruits, veggies and a few unhealthier snacks should be cut out for students to use. Give kindergartners an outline of the food guide pyramid and tell them how many servings of each food group they should be eating. Let them choose the right number from each pile of food, and glue them into the correct row of the food guide pyramid. When the activity is done, kindergartners will be able to see what the recommended 1 cup of fruit, 1 1/2 cup vegetables, four to five servings of grains a day and 2 cups of milk or milk alternatives, such as yogurt or soy milk, looks like.
Put a twist on musical chairs by making one seat the Junk Food seat. A picture of candy and potato chips should be posted on the back of that one chair, the chair to be avoided by everyone circling during the game. On surrounding chairs, paste pictures of healthier or lower calorie snack foods, such as gelatin, apples, peanut butter or cheese sticks. Whoever avoids the junk food chair every time by the end of the game is the winner.
Nutrition matching games can help drive home the reality about nutrients. Let kindergartners work in groups and provide a card with the name of the vitamin and cards with a matching graphic. For instance, vitamin A helps with vision, so would accompany an eye graphic, while vitamin B supports circulatory health so could be teamed with a picture of a heart. vitamin D is good for teeth, vitamin C for muscles, and iron for blood cells. After a nutrition unit, the match game can test knowledge of what has been learned as kids attempt to remember which nutrient goes with which picture.