Explore nutrition and a balanced diet.
Planned learning intention
To recognise the importance of keeping healthy and how a balanced, nutritious diet contributes to this
Adult:child ratio 1:8
Preparation
* Ask the children to bring in food cartons and wrappers. Provide yourself items that are less likely to be brought in, such as fruit and vegetable labels.
* Look through magazines for good photographs of food, particularly ones that portray ethnic variations or local delicacies.
* Prepare a display area, divided into two, with headings 'We should eat a lot of these' and 'We should eat a little of these'.
Step by step
* Talk about the packages and discuss the children's likes and dislikes.
* Discuss how some foods are more likely to be eaten at different times of the day. Remember that culture and religion may influence this.
* Ask the children which foods they consider to be healthy and record some of their comments.
* Explore why some foods may not be very nutritious, but acknowledge that these are often the foods we enjoy eating the most!
* Discuss how important some staple foods are and how we should eat more of them.
* Help the children to sort the food packages and pictures into the appropriate groupings for the display, for example, we should eat lots of rice, pasta and vegetables; eat only a small amount of sweets, cake and fatty foods.
* Add them to the display along with some of the children's comments.
Stepping stones
* Children with little experience may prefer to observe while others comment and manipulate the resources. They may recognise packaging of which they have experience and may be able to express likes and dislikes.
* Children with some experience will talk with greater confidence about their preferences and may show some early awareness of basic nutrition information. They may believe that certain foods are 'bad for you' but may not appreciate why this is so, nor that they are less harmful when taken in moderation and as part of a balanced diet.
* Children with more experience are better able to understand the benefits of moderation and balance in the diet and to begin to have some awareness of vocabulary such as 'vitamins',' fatty foods' and 'sugary'.
Extension idea
* Make some vegetable soup with the children. See the back of the Nursery Topics poster for a recipe and instructions.
