Healthy Day + a Giveaway! (CLOSED)

We had a busy week last week and didn’t have a lot of sit down preschool time. We did manage to do a day of Healthy for H week which I love doing with my kids. We have a chance to talk about what is healthy and what is junk food. It was perfect timing after a sugary Halloween weekend.

 

• Color MyPlate
  1. Print out a blank MyPlate pattern.
  2. I also added a smaller colored version on the same page so that my 3-year-old could match the colors.
  3. Talk about each section as you color it. Think of foods that would fit into each section.
  4. Help your preschooler notice that half of your plate should be filled with fruits and veggies!

• Sort food on MyPlate
  1. Use a plastic food set (or print out several pictures of food or cut them out of magazines.)
  2. Sort the different foods onto the sections of MyPlate. Talk positively about each kind of food!

• Make a Healthy Lunch
  1. Prepare a lunch matching the MyPlate guidelines. Fill half your plate with fruits & veggies, a serving of protein and a serving of grain. We added a serving of yogurt on the side for our dairy.
  2. I think the most important thing is to let your preschooler help make the choices. Give some options and let him choose!
  3. My preschooler loves strawberries, so he chose those for his fruit. Then he chose carrots for a veggie. We had half a bagel (with Nutella) and he was excited to see that he could choose cheese for our protein.

  

• Super Healthy Kids Plates … Like the plate we used?! We had a chance to review this great dinner set from Super Healthy Kids.
  1. Amy at Super Healthy Kids, has an amazing blog filled with information, healthy tips, recipes, weekly meal plans and much more. I visit her blog regularly to get healthy menu ideas (and she’s done all the work … breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner are all planned out, with links to the recipes!)
  2. My only negative is that we only have one plate set and my kids ALL wanted to use it We did a lot of sharing … and washing the plate!
  3. What I loved …
     • This dinner set is sturdy and well-made. I was actually surprised at the great quality. Made from melamine, they are perfect for kids. And dishwasher safe!

• My kids loved the pictures in each section. My 4-year-old insisted that he needed to eat even more strawberries for his snack because there was a picture of a strawberry and plenty of room for “more strawberries mom!”

• The cup has a large water drop with the words “drink water” on it. My 6-year-old is a little reader. Every time he saw that cup he told me “look mom, we’re supposed to ‘DRINK WATER’” and he’d help himself to another big drink.
• The plate was a great reminder for me. I tend to start our lunches with a sandwich and go from there. Using the plate, I tried to start with the fruits and veggies then portion our grains and proteins accordingly. It was fun!

Amy is offering one Healthy Habits Plate Set (plate, cup, and bowl!) to one Preschool Alphabet reader!

• 3 ways to enter (leave a separate comment for each entry with your email so I can notify the winner):
  1. Leave a comment telling what you do to encourage healthy habits in your kids!
  2. Become a follower of Preschool Alphabet (or let me know if you already are!)
  3. Visit Super Healthy Kids, then come back here and let me know what you liked! I recommend checking out her healthy lesson plans for every letter of the alphabet from A-Z …. amazing!

• One Winner
  1. Will be chosen Friday evening and posted Saturday morning.
  2. Open to U.S. residents only.

Good Luck!

Healthy (or Food groups or Nutrition)

Did you know that the USDA just (June 2011) changed the food guide pyramid to this new “My Plate” symbol?! I really like it. I think the colors are great and the simplicity makes it very easy for kids to understand. It’s given me, as a mom, motivation to fill our plates with more fruits and vegetables, smaller portions of protein (ha! if I can get my kids to eat any meat at all) and having a serving of milk with our meals. We will be getting to know “My Plate” during preschool this year!

• Talk about the new My Plate guide from the USDA and their recommendations:
  1. Enjoy your food, but eat less.
  2. Make half your plate fruits and vegetables.
  3. Make at least half your grains whole grains
  4. Switch to fat-free or low-fat (1%) milk.
  5. Drink water instead of sugary drinks
• Taste test while you talk about “My Plate”
  1. Try some freshly sliced strawberries
  2. Eat some sliced red, yellow or orange bell pepper sticks
  3. Have a whole wheat roll
  4. Try a handful of peanuts, almonds or walnuts
  5. Wash it all down with a glass of milk.

  

• Color your own “My Plate”
  1. Grab a red, orange, green, blue & purple crayon and print one of the coloring pages above.
  2. Use the full-color guide above to color each section the correct color.
  3. If you use the blank plate, cut out a fruit, vegetable, grain, protein & dairy from a magazine and glue them into the sections so your pre-reader can “read” them.
  4. If you use the plate with words, trace the words and read them together.
  5. Laminate your plate and use it as a placemat.
• Make your own “My Plate”
  1. Using a paper plate, section it into the food groups using the picture above.
  2. Color the sections with crayons the same as the plate above or cut out colored paper sections and glue them onto the plate.
  3. Don’t forget to add the important “Dairy” serving! Use a yogurt lid colored blue inside or simply a blue circle set next to your plate.
  4. Cut foods from a magazine and sort them into the correct food group on your plate!
  5. Hang it on your fridge or somewhere near the dinner table and compare their plates at mealtime!
• Make an "I Am Healthy" chart ... include daily healthy habits (eat breakfast, brush teeth, wash hands, drink a glass of water, take a bath) with checkboxes. Let the kids check off or put a sticker next to each healthy habit they perform.
• 30-60 minutes of exercise every day is important for a healthy body. So play hopscotch, hoola-hoop, try hula dancing or take a hike!

snack idea: strawberries & nuts or carrots & broccoli … and a glass of milk

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If you’d like to buy an actual plate to use for meals, check out the blog Super Healthy Kids. Amy actually designed and sells this plate that is sectioned just like the new recommendations! She sells them on Amazon too!

And the price is very reasonable!

NOTE: I am not being compensated in any way to mention this, I just think they’re a great idea and I love Amy’s blog!