Gather the preschoolers in a circle, and sing "If I Had a Bagel" to the tune of "If I Had a Hammer" with the following modified lyrics: If I had a bagel/ I'd eat it in the morning/ I'd eat it in the evening/ All over this land/ I'd eat it for breakfast/ I'd eat it for supper/ I'd eat it with all my friends and sisters and brothers/ All, over this land." Bring in wide variety of props showing all the different kinds of toppings you might put on a bagel and add them into the song one at a time. Include plenty of healthy options like veggies, hummus, peanut butter and jelly. Finish with a bagel snack for everyone using healthy multi-grain bagels.
Sing the alphabet song a few times to get everyone thinking about the alphabet. Ask the children to choose their favorite letter, or use their first initial. Make a simple pretzel dough with the kids after thoroughly washing hands: dissolve 1 package of active dry yeast in 1 cup of warm water; add 1 tsp salt, 3 tbsp vegetable oil, 1 tbsp honey; and stir in 2.5 - 3 cups of whole wheat flour and stir until smooth. Give the kids a lump of pretzel dough about the size of a small fist and have them make a pretzel shape of their favorite letter or initial. Add coarse salt as desired and place the letters on a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 15 minutes at 400 degrees, and sing the alphabet song again while enjoying delicious whole wheat pretzels!
Teach the preschoolers about estimation, math and numbers using healthy fruits and vegetables. Bring in a variety of fruits and veggies with plenty of things to count. For a leafy head of lettuce, you can count each individual leaf, for an orange you can count the seeds or sections, etc. Bring in small items for counting like cherry tomatoes or blueberries as well. Ask the preschoolers to estimate the leaves, seeds and number for each fruit and veggie, and write their estimates on a board or large piece of paper. Put the kids in pairs to count their own fruit and veggie, and record the actual totals. Finish with fruit salad for everyone and sing "Old MacDonald" with fruits and vegetables instead of animals, and enjoy a nutritious snack.
Bring peanut butter, jelly, and bread to class. If any of the preschoolers has a peanut allergy, substitute peanut butter with another nut butter, or use apple butter if needed. Sing the "Peanut Butter and Jelly" song, which tells the story of how each of the parts of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich are made, starting with peanuts pulled up from the ground and mashed and wheat grown and milled into flour. You can find lyrics to this traditional song online, or make up your own verses.