Keep your mind and body fit with a fun activity about the five food groups. After going over the functions of fruit, vegetables, grains, meats and beans, and dairy, as well as oils and fats, learners participate in a bean bag toss to identify which foods belong in each group. They then create balanced plates with pictures of food, and discuss the difference between healthy and unhealthy snacking, the importance of hydration, and the prevalence of sugar in some of their favorite foods.

Concepts

fitness, nutritional value, food groups, snacking, sports training, iep, the food pyramid, hydration, sugar

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Additional Tags

health

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Instructional Ideas

• Use in a health unit about healthy choices, or when studying the food pyramid
• Incorporate the lesson into individuals' IEP as a way to address life skills and physical fitness
• Combine the activities between physical education class and health
• Host a party that features foods from each food group, and encourage your class to try each item in its proportionate amount according to the lesson

Classroom Considerations

• Designed for learners with special needs, but applicable to mainstream classes in the elementary levels as well

Pros

• Provides applications to multiple subjects, including math (e.g. measurement, finance, number and operations), language arts (e.g. reading, writing, spelling), and life skills (e.g. grocery shopping, food preparation)
• Hands-on activity is engaging and informative to multiple reading levels
• Focuses on building nutrition knowledge as well as fine and gross motor skills

Cons

• None