To understand how to eat healthy, we learned about the food pyramid and what it means to have a balanced diet. Using grocery store circulars, we cut out pictures of different foods and placed them in the correct group on our own food pyramids!
A big part of maintaining a healthy lifestyle is to drink lots of water! We had so much fun learning about chemical reactions and figuring out what happens when citric acid,baking soda, and dish soap meet water, along with other liquids like orange juice!
Just drinking plain water can be boring! We talked about ways to flavor our water without adding sugar. We cut up fruit, added mint and ginger, and other natural ingredients to make delicious tasting water!
Obstacle courses are a very fun way to be active! The kids made sure that their obstacle course was challenging but exciting!
After learning about the food pyramid, we discussed making good food choices. We compared the ingredients in some "healthy" granola and learned that even some "healthy" foods have yucky stuff in them! We made our own, more natural granola and layered it with non-fat yogurt and berries for a healthy, organic snack!
Keeping our bodies clean is another important aspect of being healthy. We talked about routines that keep our bodies healthy. Getting enough sleep, brushing our teeth, and taking a bath or shower are all ways to stay clean!
We discussed what types of things we can do to take care of our teeth, like brushing with toothpaste and using dental floss. We did an experiment with eggshells imitating our teeth to figure out what drinks are better for our teeth, and which drinks might not be so great! Through the experiment, we learned that soda and juice can really stain and damage our teeth if we drink too much of it, but water and milk keep our teeth strong!
Washing with soap is an important step in keeping our bodies healthy and clean! We decided to make our own soap using a few basic ingredients like oatmeal, honey and essential oils.
Our minds also need to stay healthy. Sometimes, our feelings can overwhelm us and we need to get calm and relax. We made glitter mindfulness jars to help us get settled! Just shake them up, sit and watch the glitter settle. You will feel much better after that!
Fortunately, we were able to use some of the veggies we grew during our gardening project on our final day of our health and nutrition project! We created a delicious, healthy salad bar and had a wonderful lunch! We also baked up some whole-wheat pita chips and a healthy greek yogurt dip! For dessert, we had a lovely fruit salad and nutritious oatmeal banana cookies (no sugar!)
