Teacher’s tips

Level of education: Elementary School - Early Childhood Education

Age: 05 to 07 years old

Anyone who has tried to feed a child something other than chips, chocolate or ice cream knows that children don't always eat what you want. It is an almost impossible task to make them understand the importance of a healthy and balanced diet. One of the ways to make them understand is through stories and reports from other children. Children feel touched when they speak as equals and with that in mind, we brought this playful story to work on the subject of food.

Learner outcomes

Develop text reading and interpretation; Understand the use of the alphabet in the construction of words; Expand vocabulary; Understand the importance of healthy eating; Understanding that poor nutrition can pose risks to their development; Differentiate healthy foods from unhealthy foods; Develop healthy habits; Fix knowledge acquired in the classroom;

Teachers’ goals

Work on reading and text interpretation skills; Provide, in a playful and creative way, the progress in the reading and writing process of children; Expand the class's repertoire of letters and words; Work on the importance of healthy eating. Stimulate changes in eating habits; Offer the game as a didactic resource to fix the content worked in the classroom; Expand students' knowledge;

Suggestions of approaches for the teacher

Step 1: Reading the Book Escola Games “Planeta dos Pirralhos”

Step 2: Ask students to draw a picture of their food plate (foods they eat most often).

Step 3 After reading the book, you can form a circle with the students and address the following guiding questions:

1. How is your diet?

2. What do you most like to eat?

3. What do you not like to eat?

4. How is a healthy dish?

5. What colors should a plate contain?

6. Why can excess sweets and fried foods harm your health?

Step 4: Ask students to gather packages of the most consumed foods in the school playground.

Step 5: Build a giant acrylic food pyramid with students (if possible or alternative materials). Display the pyramid in a visible place in the school, such as the entrance.

Step 6: Add up the calories of these foods explaining the maximum amount of calories that can be ingested by a child daily.

Step 7: promote a picnic with fruits and natural sandwiches, presenting students with possibilities for a healthy and tasty diet.

More about it

Building a healthy and balanced diet

Eating a variety of foods keeps our meals interesting and tasty. It's also the key to a healthy, balanced diet because each food has a unique blend of nutrients - both macronutrients (carbohydrates, protein and fat) and micronutrients (vitamins and minerals). The Healthy Eating Plate for Kids provides a plan to help us make the best food choices.

In addition to filling half our plate with colorful vegetables and fruits (and choosing them as snacks), split the other half between whole grains and healthy proteins:

1. The more vegetables - and the greater the variety - the better.

Potatoes and French fries do not count as a vegetable because of their negative impact on blood sugar.

2. Choose whole fruit or sliced ​​fruit (instead of fruit juice; limit fruit juice to one small glass a day).

3. Opt for whole grains or foods made with minimally processed whole grains. The less processed the grains, the better.

4. Choose beans and peas, nuts, seeds and other healthy plant-based protein options, as well as fish, eggs and poultry.

5. It's also important to remember that fat is a necessary part of our diet and what matters most is the type of fat we eat. We should regularly choose foods with healthy unsaturated fats (like fish, nuts, seeds and healthy vegetable oils), limit foods high in saturated fat (especially red meat) and avoid harmful trans fats (from partially hydrogenated oils):

6. Use healthy plant oils like extra virgin olive oil, canola, corn, sunflower, and peanut oil in cooking, on salads and vegetables, and at the table.

7. Dairy foods are needed in smaller amounts than other foods on our plate:

8. Water should be the beverage of choice with all meals and snacks, as well as when we are active. Water is the best choice to quench your thirst. It's also sugar-free and as easy to find as your nearest faucet. Limit juice -- which can have as much sugar as soda -- to one small glass a day, and avoid sugary drinks like soda, fruit juices, and sports drinks, which provide lots of calories and virtually no other nutrients.

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