Nutrition Unit Study

The core of our unit study was The Pyramid Café (Special Activities and Devotions for Teaching Nutrition Ages 7-12).   I had planned to do this unit using only the books listed at the bottom of this post.  Then I happened to go by our local book fair and found The Pyramid Café for only $1.  Then I found a lovely lapbook freebie at Guest Hollow that goes along with the Food and Nutrition for Every Kid  and we were in business.

I saved lots of grocery store sales papers and had each girl create their own food pyramid with photos from the ads.  I also had each child create a nutritious dinner plate using cutouts from the sales papers too.

I also found the website Nourish Interactive to be a great resource for printables.  The site contains both the Food Pyramid, and the new My Plate information.   Aren’t these guys just too cute?

We did lots of reading, tried some new fruits like kiwi, fresh pineapple and raspberries.  We even made homemade butter and whole wheat bread.

If you have never made butter, it’s very simple.  Buy a container of HEAVY Whipping Cream, and pour it into a container with a tight fitting lid.  Pour the cold cream into your container, make sure the lid is on tight and shake, shake, shake.  Seriously, it’ll take about 20 minutes of vigorous shaking.  You won’t think anything is happening, then suddenly there will be a clump of butter.

The girls really enjoyed making the bread.   What kid doesn’t like feeling fresh dough between their fingers?

Books/DVD’s we used:

My Pyramid K-2, Choosing Nutrition Food and Healthy Activities – DVD
Why Should I Eat Well; by Claire Llewellyn
The Food Pyramid; by Kristin Petrie
Brain Food for Kids; by Nicola Graimes
Food and Nutrition for Every Kid; by Janice VanCleave
Get Active; by Louise Spilsbury
How to Teach Nutrition to Kids; by Connie Liakos Evers
Being Active; by Mari C. Schuh
The Meat and Beans Group; by Mari C. Schuh
The Milk Group; by Mari C. Schuh
The Grain Group; by Mari C. Schuh
The Vegetable Group; by Mari C. Schuh
The Fruit Group; by Mari C. Schuh