1. By: Elizabeth Hardee & Bates McKinney
FOOD PLAY Years Old
By: Elizabeth Hardee & Bates McKinney

2. Why Is Food Play Important?
Childhood Obesity is affecting 28% of 1st graders; 35.1% of 3rd graders & 37.7% of 5th graders in Spartanburg County. This is an unfortunate trend across the nation.
In an effort to decrease this trend we feel programs should educate participants about making healthy food choices starting as early as possible.
Nutrition education has to be fun, engage participants in a variety of ways & involve parents whenever possible.
We use “My Plate” USDA Guidelines to teach the basics because there are a lot of free & resources.

3. HOW Do We Teach Nutrition Education?
Eating Habits of Toddlers : Toddlers are just developing their concepts of food so it is very important to introduce food groups at an early age. They have very specific ideas about foods and how and when they want to eat. Families and childcare staff should recognize and respect the food behaviors of each child. Young children should be guided by adults to explore new foods in an environment that promotes social development. • Toddler age children generally prefer mildly flavored foods. Spicy or strong flavored foods are an acquired taste. • Simple foods that are low or moderate in sugars and fats teach healthful food choices. • Overcooked vegetables are frequently disliked. • Most young children like raw vegetables but make sure to cut up food into small pieces to avoid choking hazards. • Fruits are liked either raw or cooked but cut into small bites that can be self fed. • Meats and chicken are favorite foods. • As children get older, they develop definite preferences for familiar foods, making exposure to a variety of foods and flavors at the toddler age important. • Many toddlers’ diets are low in vitamins A, C, and iron. • Offering a variety of foods ensures children get the nutrients they need. • Children can decide how much food they want to eat each day. • Caregivers can support children by honoring a child’s feelings of hungry and full. • Toddlers need at least 11 introductions to new foods in order to determine if they like or dislike the food Nutrition Education Curriculum Goals Nutrition education lessons help children to: • Enjoy a variety of healthful foods • Learn about hand-washing & table manners. • Learn about new foods in a fun and exciting way • Understand their feelings of hunger and fullness • Learn ways to group and describe foods • Learn to refuse food politely

4. HOW Do We Teach Age Appropriate Nutrition Education?
Best Practices for teaching 2-3 years olds:
It’s important to understand that children from 2-3 years old have very limited vocabularies in any language, and from the age of 2 are generally just beginning to string together utterances of more than one word. As such, your main focus with such young learners is not on language production, but language comprehension. You’ll want to engage the children in interesting, comprehensible activities while providing them with lots and lots of input. Don’t pressure the children to speak…they will when they are ready.
Music is an amazing tool for teaching languages, especially to children. Good songs will bounce around in a learner’s head long after their lesson is over. Young learners pick up vocabulary, grammatical structures, and the rhythm of the language simply by doing what they already love to do…singing.
Structure & routines are critical so they know what to expect. Set the classroom up so there is a routine every time a nutrition activity is to take place. Perhaps play the same nutrition song as you get the children to gather in a circle or at a table.
How you say things is as important as what you say. If you are reading and they aren't listening and you start singing the story, they quiet right down. But you can't rely on song alone. Teachers try to alternate verbal tactics, using whispering or different voices or silently mouthing the words to get children to focus on them. 
Once you have their undivided attention then  keep your instructions clear, short, and direct.

5. How Do We Teach Nutrition Education & Make It Fun
First don’t call it “Nutrition Education” instead call it, “Food Play”…”Nuts About Nutrition” or anything catchy.
Reading fun books about food like,
“I Love To Eat Fruits & Vegetables”
Arts/Crafts…great idea is food crafts
Relay Races
Sensory Trays with Rice Krispies
“Cooking” Classes
Games with fake food
Physical activities
Finger-Puppets
Edible Indoor Sandbox
Traditional lesson plans

6. Visual Play
Great examples of using visual play to teach nutrition are posters; fake food, picture-find games, grocery shopping centers, kitchen centers with pictures & real visual aids.
Often these activities are done in solitary as a seated learning activity but are highly effective if they can be part of their daily play time.
Introduce the food item by showing them a picture, read about it in a book that has a lot of graphics and slowly sound it out as you have the children mimic the sound you make. This works best if you have actual food they can hold, touch, smell & even taste. Pair this up with lots of auditory stimulus to be the most effective.
Watching cartoons or videos that has food characters is a great visual stimulation.
Activities for teaching 2-3 years olds:
My Plate & healthy food collages prepared in advance
Visual Cards-Color Me Healthy paired with real food
All the Colors of the Supermarket
Finger Painting using fruits and vegetables

7. Auditory Play Songs about Nutrition Musical Chairs
Hot Potato (Switch it up to “Freezing Broccoli,”
“Freezing Tangerine” or whatever food you are introducing.)
Have toddlers help make up a song about what they have learned based off of My Plate, specifically as they reach the threes.
Activities for teaching 2-3 years olds:
Fruit & Veggie songs Color Me Healthy CD
Introduce the food item and slowly sound it out as you have the children mimic the sound you make. This works best if you have actual food they can hold, touch, smell & even taste. Pair this up with visual stimulus to be the most effective. Pass the food item around as you play a game like “Hide the Apple” and you call out “Hotter” or “Colder” as they get close. You can pair this up with a simple fun fact about apples like, “Apples are red, green, pink and yellow. Our apple is red and very sweet.”
Naming the specific sensation as they taste the food; example that apple is crisp much like carrots.
Sensory Trays with Rice Krispies where the cereal is the “sand” and small edible snacks are in each tray. After the children are done playing they can add water to “hear” the Rice Krispies.

8. Kinesthetic Play
Getting the kids up & moving is huge when teaching about nutrition because it is doubling as a fitness exercise while teaching about nutrition.
Also, young kids want to touch things and our job is to involve as many of their senses that we can while teaching.
Activities for teaching 2-3 years olds:
Hand Washing Station
Fruit & Veggie Exercises
Nutrition Adventure: Watermelon Popsicles
Finger Puppet Play
Cooking with Toddlers
Edible Indoor Sandbox where fruits are
pre-cut & placed in the cereal. The toddlers
can pick up the snacks & eat them as they
play.

9. Get Moving!!
Model
The most important thing you can do is make nutrition education FUN!!
Engage
Diversify
Be Creative
Teach

10. Classroom Wrap-Up
Q&A
Survey
Thank You!!