Healthy eating is an important lesson for children to learn. Although children typically have their lunches and meals made for them, it is still important for children to understand what it means, and looks like, to eat a healthy diet. This Food Pyramid for Kids Worksheet and Activity is an engaging way to make learning about food fun.
I enjoy teaching my students about making healthy choices because they are always interested and focused during our discussions. Children are curious because it is something that affects them everyday.
I also find using real food more effective. It’s fun for children to see and recognize different foods.
Try some of these hands-on food pyramid activities for the classroom or home.
Food Pyramid for Kids Materials
There are lots of fun ways to introduce healthy eating to children. When I do this activity in the classroom, I try to do it before lunch and we use the children’s actual lunches. To do the activity you need a variety of food from all of the food groups.
You can also print and prepare the Food Pyramid worksheets. There are two activities that can be done with the worksheets.
There is a page of food to cut out and a food pyramid sheet as well as a sorting page. If you have young children doing the activity, you may want to cut out the foods ahead of time. Children will also need glue to glue the squares down.
Know Your Food Guide
Please note that food guides tend to vary for different locations and countries. Recently the food pyramid in my area removed dairy as its own food group. Daily is now mixed in with proteins. Everyone is still encouraged to have low fat dairy in their diet, but not necessarily on a daily basis. This is a change not found in all food guides.
Check the food guide and food pyramid for your area. It may differ from the one discussed below. Even if your guide is different though the activity can still be used effectively. There are lots of great discussions and learning that will happen. You can clarify your food guide with children as you go.
In the end, being able to identify the exact group each food should go into isn’t what’s important. It’s important for children to recognize that they should be eating a balanced diet filled with variety and healthy choices.
Food Pyramid for Kids Activity
Before doing the worksheets, I suggest doing a group activity. It is important that children know what each of the food groups are and roughly what foods belong to each.
I had a collection of food, that we worked together, as a group to sort. Print out a label for each of your food groups. I used, fruits and vegetables, proteins and grains. Children then chose one food item at a time and decided which food group it belonged to.
Once all of the foods have been sorted, you have a great visual for children to see all of the different foods. You can also include a few items, such a cookie or chips, and discuss how they don’t properly go into any of the categories.
Food Pyramid for Kids Sorting
Another great activity to try with kids and food is to sort food into two different categories, everyday foods and sometimes foods.
One focus with the food pyramid and the food guides is creating healthy relationships with food. Avoid telling children that certain foods, that they may love, are unhealthy and should not be eaten.
Teach children that even treats and sweets are okay to have. The should be eaten in moderation and only eaten sometimes. This way children don’t feel guilty if they eat certain foods, and they can enjoy all foods.
The only exception to discuss with children is if someone has an allergy. Then those are foods that should never be eaten by the person.
Foods that are part of the grains, protein, fruit and vegetable food groups are foods that should be eaten everyday. Other foods, such as chips, sweets and processed foods should only be eaten sometimes and in moderation.
Once all of the foods have been sorted, it creates a great visual for kids to see and compare.
Classroom Extension Idea
This can also be a lot of fun to do with children’s lunches. Make sure to be sensitive to different types of foods and the fact that some lunches may not include healthy choices. However, if each child chooses one thing from their lunch and decides which category it belongs to, it’s a great way to keep kids engaged and learning.
Children may notice as they sort the different foods, that some of the ingredients in the foods could fit into each category. For example, a pizza includes cheese, meat, grains, and sometimes vegetables.
You can decide as a group where to put the pizza, and there is no right or wrong answers for these combinations. It’s the conversation that happens around them that is important.
Another activity you can try with the food is to create a real food pyramid. Start at the bottom and fill it with lots of grains, breads, cereals, rice and similar foods. Next, place lots of fruits and vegetables. Then a row of protein and meats and finally on the top place one treat, sweet or oil, like butter!
Once you are comfortable with the children’s understanding of food groups and healthy choices, the worksheets are a great follow-up for their learning.
On the “Food Pyramid Worksheet”, children place four grains, three fruits and veggies, two meat and protein foods and one food from the fats and oils category. Once they are in place, children can use the rest of the cut outs and sort them on the, “Food Pyramid Sort” page.
Free Printable Worksheets
The worksheets that go along with the activity above are available for FREE from Play Learn Inspire. You can click the image with the lock below to subscribe and then all freebies will become available to you. (If you have already subscribe, the “Free Printables” image and pages will appear and you can simply click to download immediately.
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