Preschool Activity on Healthy Snacks

Introduce the Food Pyramid

• Introducing the food pyramid to children will help show them which food groups are best to choose snacks from. Draw a large copy of a blank food pyramid on a big sheet of paper. Be sure to have the most up-to-date food pyramid with you, available from the United States Department of Agriculture. Label the pyramid, and explain to the children that the food pyramid shows you how to eat healthy. The bigger the section, the more food you should eat from that food group. Give the children pictures of food with tape on the backs of them, and have them take turns putting food in the right sections on the pyramid. Correct them as they go along, if need be. Explain to them that at snack time, it is important that they eat healthy snacks from different sections of the pyramid. Display your food pyramid in the classroom to remind children of which foods are healthiest.

Healthy Snacks Collage

• Have the children cut out pictures of what snacks they think would be good for them from magazines. Tell them to refer to the food pyramid if they need help. Allow each child to make a collage of healthy snacks, such as apples, whole grain crackers and celery sticks.

Which Snack is Better?

• This activity teaches children to make healthy food choices. Put a healthy snack, such as an apple, in one hand and a sugary candy in the other, and ask them which is healthier. If kids pick the candy, explain to them that too much sugar is not healthy. Continue to compare various healthy snacks with unhealthy snacks. As they get better at the activity, make it a little harder by comparing healthy snacks in the same category. For example, compare a plain hard pretzel with a chocolate dipped hard pretzel. Teach them that even though they are both pretzels, the one with the chocolate on it is less healthy.

Fruit or Vegetable?

• This activity teaches children the differences between fruits and vegetables. Hold up pictures of different types of produce and ask them if it is a fruit or a vegetable. Explain why each one is a fruit or a vegetable. When they get better at this game, select produce that is harder to classify, such as tomatoes and pumpkins.