Food Nutrition with MyPlate

     For our Maker Camp, Mr.Anthony planned a fun day to teach the kids about proper portions sizes and how to prep your food before making your meal. I was asked to lead the MyPlate activity, which is the USDAs new alternative to what was once known as The Food Pyramid. The MyPlate activity was a great way for kids to physically see their plate and the proper portions for each food group. Examples include how grains and vegetables are now proportionate to each other, as well as, fruits and protein. The kids really enjoyed discussing about healthy foods and how much they should be eating. I think the kids were surprised to find that they needed to eat more or less of one food group. It was funny to hear from our kids things like, "I only love fruits so I must be a fruitarin." It was great to discuss other food possibilities with this child and find out that they were very excited to try and eat more grains and dairy products. 

 The MyPlate activity took a while because we asked the kids to draw their dinner plate on a while place mat and then to cut out their food on the cardboard. Each kid took their time to draw out their favorite foods, while staying within the proper parameters taught by the USDA. We found that many kids loved to draw their favorite fruits and veggies but became confused about grains and protein. Some kids were unaware that pasta and cereal was a hearty grain that should be consumed. Once the kids found that out, many began to try macaroni & cheese as their "favorite grain".

While my group was busy with the MyPlate activity, Mr. Anthony's group had a terrific time discussing which fruits and vegetables they would like to try out in their smoothies. There were two separate groups and amongst each group the kids had to pick what they wanted to try. Each group tried two different smoothies, different from that of the other groups smoothies. 

  The kids did a great job deciding as a group what various fruits and vegetable they wanted within their smoothies. Everyone took part in the preparation steps involved when eating fruits and vegetables. It can sometimes be scary to see kids work with knives, but with great supervision they are safe and learning practical life skills. It was very interesting to see kids choose items like kale and coconut, when making their smoothie choices. 

It had been a long and hot day ... so after awhile our kids and some of our staff decided to get a little silly! From everyone cutting out cardboard "food", the mustaches eventually came out :D

For some other great food options, please check out  Fried Zucchini and Vegan Smoothie !

~ Mackenzie