| Time-saving
and a great organizational tool, nutrition theme bags make nutrition education
lessons less overwhelming and more fun. |
TEACHING
TIP: Nutrition Theme Bags
Would you like to
incorporate more nutrition education into your program or classroom? Would
you teach nutrition lessons if you had more time? Are you interested in
integrating nutrition into other subject areas?
If you answered
"yes" to the above questions, then you may want to consider
assembling nutrition education theme bags (or boxes). Time-saving and
a great organizational tool, these kits will make nutrition education
lessons less overwhelming and more fun. The following ideas are designed
to get your creative juices flowing. Please send any other ideas you
have to me at ideas@nutritionforkids.com.
Gardening:
- Suggested Books:
Growing Vegetable Soup, by Lois Ehlert; Growing Colors, by Bruce McMillan;
Oliver's Vegetables, by Vivian French; Blue Potatoes, Orange Tomatoes,
by Rosalind Creasy
- Small pots, 5
lb. Bag of potting soil, various seed packets
- Vegetable recipe
cards (e.g. Vegetable soup, salad, veggie pizza)
- Note cards with
field trip ideas, including phone numbers/contacts (e.g. Local farms,
farmer's markets, ethnic food markets, nurseries)
- Blank pad to
make notes regarding future ideas and follow-up activities
Multicultural Education:
- Suggested Books:
Good Morning, Let's Eat!, by Karin Luisa Badt; The Kids' Multicultural
Cookbook: Food & Fun Around the World, by Deanna F. Cook; Everyone
Bakes Bread & Everyone Cooks Rice (both by Norah Dooley)
- Blank recipe
cards (for children to take home to obtain a family recipe)
- Music cassettes
with various ethnic music selections
- puppets/dolls
of various ethnicities
- Note cards with
field trip ideas, including phone numbers/contacts (e.g. ethnic food
markets, seasonal ethnic celebrations)
- Blank pad to
make notes regarding future ideas and follow-up activities
Breakfast:
- Suggested Books:
Good Morning, Little Fox, by Marilyn Janovitz; The Hatseller and the
Monkeys, by Baba Wagué Diakité; Pancakes, Pancakes, by
Eric Carle
- Visual props
such as a small car (to make the analogy between fueling the car and
how breakfast fuels our body) and a model of a brain (to point out how
breakfast feeds our brain for learning)
- Blank pad to
make notes regarding future ideas and follow-up activities
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FOR
KIDS ONLY: Healthy Reading for 9-12 year-olds
Non-Fiction:
The
Healthy Body Cookbook: Over 50 Fun Activities and Delicious Recipes for
Kids
by Joan D'Amico and Karen Eich Drummond
Publisher: John Wiley; ISBN: 0471188883; (January 1999)
The
Kids' Multicultural Cookbook: Food & Fun Around the World
by Deanna F. Cook,
Publisher: Williamson Publishing; ISBN: 0913589918; (October 1995)
Janice
Vancleave's Food and Nutrition for Every Kid: Easy Activities That Make
Learning Science Fun (Science for Every Kid Series)
by Janice Pratt Vancleave
Publisher: John Wiley; ISBN: 0471176656; (August 1999)
Food
Rules! The Stuff You Munch, Its Crunch, Its Punch, and Why You Sometimes
Lose Your Lunch
by Bill Haduch and Rick Stromoski (Illustrator)
Publisher: Puffin; ISBN: 0141311479; (March 2001)
Kids
Garden!: The Anytime, Anyplace Guide to Sowing & Growing Fun by
Avery Hart, Paul Mantell, Loretta Braren (Illustrator), Jennie Chien (Illustrator)
Williamson Publishing; ISBN: 091358990X; (February 1996)
Blue
Potatoes, Orange Tomatoes
by Rosalind Creasy, Ruth Heller (Illustrator)
Publisher: Little Brown & Co (Juv Pap); ISBN: 0871569191; Reprint
edition (April 1997)
Fiction:
Annie
Pitts, Artichoke
by Diane Degroat
Publisher: Seastar Pub Co; ISBN: 1587170434; Reprint edition (April 2001)
Nothing's
Fair in Fifth Grade
by Barthe Declements
Publisher: Puffin; ISBN: 0140344438; Reissue edition (May 1990)
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RECIPE:
Fruity Baked Squash Rounds
Packed with nutrients
and antioxidants, this delicious recipe is sweet enough to pass for dessert!
Ingredients:
1 large acorn squash, cut into ½ inch rings, seeds removed
½ cup orange juice
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
Non-stick cooking spray
Fruit Filling:
whole cranberry sauce or blueberry sauce*
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350º.
2. Spray a 13" X 9" baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
3. Arrange squash rounds in baking dish.
4. Combine orange juice, brown sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon. Drizzle over
squash.
5. Bake 45 minutes.
6. Spoon whole cranberry sauce or blueberry sauce* into center of squash
rounds.
*To make a blueberry
sauce, heat one cup frozen blueberries with 2 teaspoons sugar in a covered
microwave bowl for 2 minutes. Stir.
Makes 8 servings
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READER
FEEDBACK: Ideas for Indoor Fitness
Hi Connie!
Love your newsletter! Could I make a couple additions/suggestions about
the current newsletter? (ACTION-FILLED
AFTERNOONS in July/August '02)
So many kids are
not allowed outside because of dangerous neighborhoods or because they
are latch-key kids! How about suggestions for indoor physical activities?
Here's a few my kids loved:
Note: Set a few safety
rules before you start!
- Balloons/soft balls are fun to hit/throw [those splash balls are great]
- Follow the leader [this can be done running/jumping/hopping in place]
- Twister (stretching)
- Aerobic tapes for kids
Linda Smith
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NEWS
IN BRIEF
Breakfast
for Teens
Teens who eat breakfast are two to five times more likely than their breakfast-skipping
counterparts to get at least two-thirds of the daily Recommended Dietary
Intakes of many essential vitamins and minerals. Breakfast eaters also
ate less fat than those who missed breakfast.
Source: August 2002 Food & Nutrition Research Briefs located at http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/np/fnrb/fnrb0802.htm#teens
Eat Smart, Move
More in North Carolina
Moving Our Children Toward a Healthy Weight: Finding the Will and the
Way is a comprehensive state plan to reduce and prevent childhood overweight.
It is a leadership document designed to raise awareness of childhood overweight,
stimulate discussion of the issues, and get many individuals and groups
working together to solve them. For other nutrition/activity initiatives
in North Carolina, see http://www.eatsmartmovemorenc.com
RECOMMENDED
SITE:
BreakFAST & Jump To It!
Sponsored by the Dairy Council of California, this interactive web-based
game for kids emphasizes the importance of eating a balanced breakfast.
The link between healthy eating and fitness is also addressed. Access
it at http://www.dairycouncilofca.org/activities/breakfast.htm
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The
information contained in this newsletter is not intended as a substitute
for medical and/or nutrition advice. See your physician and/or registered
dietitian for individual health and/or dietary concerns.
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©2002,
by Connie Evers, All Rights Reserved. There is a modest reprint fee
for reproducing the material in this newsletter in either print or electronic
publications. Please send an email to reprint@nutritionforkids.com
for details and rates.
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