What will I eat today?
The pyramid is in the middle of the table, and the food items are available. In turn,
each child thinks about what it would like to eat today – and lays the corresponding
wooden food items in front of them on the table. Now the group considers: Which of
these selected food items belongs to which level? The children sort the items
together on the pyramid. They think about it together some more: What picture
results? Has the child come up with a healthy menu? Did it perhaps overdo some-
thing in some food groups and somewhat neglected others in exchange? Conversely,
the children can also play using guidelines. They arrange their favorite foods in the
recommended serving amounts, thus
products,
1 x fish, meat, sausage, or egg,
1 x a little something sweet.
and the children realize: It's really not so difficult at all! For illustration, certain
eating habits can also be deliberately exaggerated: What would someone's menu look
like that is completely unbalanced? And that of someone who always only eats
healthy things? The children may also fool around a bit here! In this way, they will at
the same time learn that a balanced diet can also be fun!
It continues in a role play:
Play "shopping" with the children. Lay out all the food items. This is the "supermar-
ket". The children should now choose what they want to buy today. The cloth pouch
or small bowls can be used for this. Then the little "shopper" spreads out the food
purchased in front of the group. The shopping is examined together. Did the child/
children buy "well" in the sense of a balanced diet? The children consider together.
They can also place the shopping on the pyramid to see: Where are most of the
"purchased" food items? More lower or higher, more in the "green area" or in the red
area? Then the food items are divided on 3 larger and 2 smaller plates. Use for this
customary plates from your institution or play plates from the role-playing corner,
since the labeling on the pyramid disks could lead to misunderstandings. The "normal"
plates that the children know from numerous meals are intended to symbolize the
meals breakfast, snack, lunch, afternoon snack, and dinner. How will the children
divide their purchases and combine them into tasty meals (e.g., noodles + tomato +
cucumber + oil = lunch, spaghetti with tomato sauce and cucumber salad)?
In the next step, have them shop using guidelines, consequently as described above:
2 pieces of fruit, 3 vegetables, 4 grain products, 3 dairy products, etc. This shopping
will again be looked at "at home" and then divided onto the 5 plates. What is there
today for breakfast, what for lunch, and what will work well as snacks?
Using the Wehrfritz "Stay healthy" Food Pyramid, the children of your institution will
become little nutritional experts and have a lot of fun with healthy eating and drin-
king!
2 x fruit,
3 x vegetables,
2 x fat/nuts,
and of course only if they want,
A balanced and healthy diet is fabulously demonstrated,
4 x grains,
3 x dairy
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