eNewsletter Sign-up:

• 1. Homemade Craft Supplies
• 2. How to Start a Garden
• 3. Sample Health School Food Menus
• 4. Eco Friendly Classroom Supplies
• 5. Green Tips for Room Parents

• What is healthy food?
  • Definitions
  • School Foods
  • Organic
  • Locally Grown
  • Allergy policies/programs
• Advice/action plans
  • Nutrition goals
  • Sample menus
  • Come Together, Over Food
  • Pack Some Organic
• Success Stories
  • Walnut Creek
  • Grady High School
  • Camden Hills High School
  • Olympia School District
  • Promise Academy
  • Ann Arbor
• KIWI Crusaders
• In the Classroom
• Resources

In the Classroom

One of the best ways to encourage students to learn about good food and proper nutrition is with hands-on activities. While kindergarteners will delight in choosing ingredients for a special classroom granola, students in high school can learn the science behind an emulsion with homemade mayonnaise. Use this list as a jumping point to explore the world of food with students.

Elementary School

• Create a list of favorite lunches to share with families
• Build a baking soda volcano
• Brainstorm a hypothetical restaurant, discussing different food themes and dishes to be served
• Create a replacement menu for fast-food restaurant
• Make a list of healthy snacks for students to keep with them during the day
• Mix a fruit salad
• Ask students to write about their favorite family meal
• Make pesto in a blender
• Stuff beans inside empty toilet paper rolls, seal and use as maracas
• Grow an avocado in a cup
• Fill a bowl with beans (or any small food) and discuss estimation
• Practice measuring with bowls of flour or water and sets of measuring spoons and cups
• Read a recipe in the classroom and make the food as a group, discussing how a recipe is structured and the importance of following directions
• Take a trip to a local farm
• Invite a farmer to visit the classroom
• Make butter by shaking a jar filled with milk
• Read the book Stone Soup and then make the soup in the classroom

Middle School

• Ask students to create a week-long meal plan for a family of four, using a limited budget
• Identify fruits and veggies from your area, and research each food’s growing season
• Designing a breakfast to share with families and serve it to them in the classroom
• Visit a restaurant and write a review
• Create a game show: What is the Healthy Choice?
• Grow a window box of herbs
• Have a bake sale and donate profits to a charity of the class’ choice
• Start a food drive for your school
• Write a recipe for a favorite food
• Host a lemonade stand in the cafeteria
• Ask students to recalculate a recipe based on double or triple servings

High School

• Make mayonnaise to learn about emulsion
• Analyze food and meals for calories and fat content
• Teach students about good fats versus bad fats
• Food challenges: create a dish with three specific ingredients
• Invite a chef, baker, grocery store manager or other food-related professional to speak to the class
• Bring in some foods and have students track the journey from their origin to your classroom
• Write an article comparing the healthy options of two fast-food restaurants
• Plant a vegetable garden in the schoolyard
• Have students swap recipes to take home and prepare—come back with comments/suggestions for the writer, based on how accurate the recipe’s directions were
• Volunteer at soup kitchens
• Study various world regions and identify the climates and indigenous foods for each area
• Start a food drive for the community