Author: GHoffman

Healthy Eating
Health & Wellness
School Readiness Kits
This kit was created and assembled by the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives in collaboration with the University of Kentucky Human Development Institute with funding from the School Ready Libraries Grant ; adapted from the work of the Grant County Public Library.

Healthy Eating Program Kit
Goals
Identifies relationships between personal health behaviors and individual well-being
Describe how diet, exercise and rest affect the body.
Explains why foods are needed by the body (growth, energy)
Describes the reasons why an individual needs to eat breakfast 1
These goals were taken from Building a Strong Foundation for School Success: Kentucky’s Early Childhood Standards https://kidsnow.ky.gov/families/readiness/Documents/early-childhood-standards.pdf
Aim for a variety of foods and beverages from each food group and limit saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars.

January 2018
Page 1

Write
Suggested Activities
Have children cut out pictures from a magazine of both healthy and non healthy foods. Have them write the name of the food on a piece of paper and glue the food to that page.
Give the children a MyPlate and let them write a list of their favorite foods that go into each section of the plate.
Have children draw a picture of their favorite foods and write about why they like that food.
Help children to write and illustrate their favorite recipe.
School Readiness Asides to Parents and Caregivers
There is more than one way to eat healthfully and everyone has their own eating style. Make healthier choices that reflect your preferences, culture, traditions, and budget.
You can help children choose fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy, and protein foods to get the most nutrition and meet your personal calorie needs

January 2018
Page 3

Read
Suggested Activities
Read the story Making Vegetable Soup and have the children act it out or parts of it out. For example, they can act out you need to do to a vegetable to get it ready for the soup pot.
Read a nonfiction book about where food comes from.
Read books about what our bodies need and how they grow.
School Readiness Asides to Parents and Caregivers
Some children may not know where their food actually comes from. By talking about how their food grows they learn about the natural world around them.
By talking about how our bodies need food to grow, children learn about foods that are good for them and can make healthier choices.

January 2018
Page 2

Sing
“One Potato, Two Potato
One potato, two potatoes, three potatoes, four.
Five potatoes, six potatoes, seven potatoes more!
Change the food based on their favorites. Encourage them to hold up the number of fingers as they sing this!
Where’s My Fruit (or Other Food Groups)
Where’s my fruit?
Where’s my fruit?
Here it is! Here it is!
I make healthy choices.
I make healthy choices,
Every day! Every day!

January 2018
Page 4

Talk
Suggested Activities
Help children expand their vocabulary by talking about the different foods you see as you are walking around the grocery store or as you are preparing the foods at home. Also talk about the tools you use to prepare the foods.
Talk about the different shapes and colors of foods and have the children sort by shape, color or other attribute they wish.
Talk about where foods come from. Many children don’t have the opportunity to learn the real source of food.
School Readiness Asides to Parents and Caregivers
Children love to help in the kitchen and by giving them the opportunity to help prepare their own food, they will be more likely to try new and different foods.
When preparing foods, you use a variety of math concepts such as shape, size, counting and measuring.

January 2018
Page 5

Play
Suggested Activities
By using empty food boxes or cans within your home, set up a grocery store. Have them create a grocery list and then have them go shopping to find all the items on their list.
Set up a dramatic play restaurant with plastic food. Have the children create a menu and take orders as the diners choose what they would like to eat.
Give children playdough and let them create pretend foods.
Play Apple, Apple, Orange instead of Duck, Duck, Goose.
School Readiness Asides to Parents and Caregivers
NAEYC notes that children tend to be highly motivated to follow rules and stick to the roles of the dramatic play. This helps them grow in their ability to inhibit their impulses, coordinate with others and make plans.
Playing with playdough helps children build fine motor skills for the future.

January 2018
Page 6

Citation Page
ALIGNMENT OF STANDARDS AND BENCHMARKS. (2003, October 1). Retrieved March 07, 2017, from https://kidsnow.ky.gov/families/readiness/Documents/early-childhood-standards.pdf

January 2018
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January 2018
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January 2018
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January 2018
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