Healthy Snacks

I enhanced my Feed ME lessons by accompanying them with healthy snacks. Bringing nutritious treats into the classroom was an opportunity for me to expose the fourth graders at Clinton Elementary School to new foods and to get them excited about nutrition. I applied for a grant through the Provost’s office at Colby College to purchase food to accompany my lessons. The Provost awarded me $100 to use to purchase food.

• Funding Application

“I loved learning about nutrition because I got to eat delicious snacks.”– Max

Snack 1:

One of my favorite healthy snacks as a child was “ants on a log.” This delicious treat is simple to make and its fun name engages children. Ants on a log is celery topped with peanut butter and sprinkled with raisins. It gets its name from the raisins, which look like ants climbing on top of a celery log. Many students in the classroom in which I taught had never tried celery. They were hesitant to try ants on a log, but found its name to be comical. I encouraged everyone in the classroom to at least try the snack. I told them that if they didn’t try it, then they would never know if they liked it. The consensus in the classroom was that the snack was delicious, and the students were eager to discover what foods I was going to bring in in subsequent classes.

“Yes, I do like learning about [nutrition] because I like tasting the food you bring.”- Cooper

Snack 2:

Lesson two was about the Food Pyramid. It taught students about the different food groups and explained that it is important to eat foods from a variety of food groups in order to get all of the nutrients your body needs. Trail mix seemed like the perfect snack to teach students about variety. I made a trail mix with almonds, cashews, peanuts, pretzels, raisins, and M&Ms. I explained that the nuts in the trail mix were from the protein group. The pretzels were from the grains group, and the raisins were from the fruit group. I then reiterated the concept of “sometimes foods” that I introduced in Lesson 1. “Sometimes foods” are foods that include sugar, fats, and oils, like M&Ms. I explained that students did not have to cut these foods from their diets entirely, they should just try to reduce their intake. “Sometimes foods” can be a part of a balanced diet, and that is why I included them in the trail mix.

“My favorite thing about learning about nutrition is trying new foods.”- Kaytlinn

Snack 3:

Fruits and vegetables can be expensive. Consequently, not every child has the opportunity to try a variety of produce. For my third lesson, I wanted to teach students about the importance of eating the right amount of fruits and vegetables every day. I also wanted to give them the opportunity to try some new foods. At the end of Lesson 2, I asked the fourth graders if there were any fruits and vegetables that they wanted to try. I told them that I would be bringing some produce into class during their next lesson, and needed their assistance to figure out what I should buy. The students were eager to help me create a shopping list. Many of them asked me to bring in tropical fruits, such as mangos and pineapples. Others asked for vegetables, like peppers or cucumbers. I created a list of their suggestions, and then I went to the grocery store to purchase some of them. I bought green beans, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, kiwis, mangoes, pineapples, canary melons, and clementines. During Lesson 3, I taught the students about the vitamins and minerals in fruits and vegetables. Then, I encouraged them to try the fruits and vegetables that I brought in. Many of them tasted all of the produce and found a few new foods that they wanted to incorporate into their “5-a-Day.”

Snack 4:

The fourth and final snack that I brought to class was comprised of carrots, pita chips, and hummus. When I asked the students what fruits and vegetables they would like to try during Lesson 2, many of them told me that they really liked carrots. Currently, carrots and hummus is one of my favorite snacks. However, I never had the opportunity to try hummus when I was a child. I saw my last lesson as the perfect opportunity to introduce the fourth graders to a food that would likely be new to them. I purchased pita chips as well because I wanted to ensure that children who did not like carrots would have something to accompany the hummus. When I introduced this snack, I asked how many students knew what hummus was or had tried it before. I was not surprised to find that only four or five students had ever tried hummus, and they were the only ones who knew what it was. Most of the class was hesitant to try hummus, but with some encouragement, the majority of them did. A few students declared that hummus and carrots is now one of their favorite snacks. Others did not like the snack, but were happy to have had the opportunity to try something new.