What We Learned in 60 Seconds or Less

Reward

Now it's time to reward the kids! We did a chocolate fountain and gave them tons of different fruits to dunk in it. We got two fruits they'd never tried, papayas and kumquats, and they didn't really seem to thrilled (they were kinda gross). But hey, ya never know until you try!

Kacy made each person give examples of the fruit groups. They did really well and they hadn't even heard the info for like a month so maybe this meant it actually stuck with them.

So there you go. You have taught some children about fruits and veggies.

"Orange" you Glad it's Time to Eat Bananas?

So, very similar to the veggie tracking track the fruits they eat for the next few days.
Fruit Tracker
It just so happened our charts were in use the two weeks leading up to thanksgiving. So as the boys were snarfing down bananas Kacy and Kiy decided to do a little fruit project that went along with the holiday. We gave each member of the family (even those who refused to participate in the charts *cough cough... Nate... cough*) a little fruit to color. Each person wrote down something they were grateful for (the little kids had help of course) and then put it in our paper cornucopia. It was a fun, quick project that made a great holiday decoration.
Cornucopia

Fruits are "Grape"!

Now that the kids have had fun learning about veggies, let's teach them a little bit about fruit! We decided to try using technology in this round. We watched a couple of youtube videos and songs (some were quite... interesting). Kacy spent the time to make a beautiful PowerPoint for us that Kiy presented to the children. It help the kids learn a little bit about fruit groups and it helped us teens learn a few facts too. There was a quiz at the end and we gave Runts to the child that could answer right. (Runts aren't healthy but they're really cute and fruit shaped...) We had them name the fruit and have another (older) child tell which group it would go in. We had a really fun time.

Fruit Power Point

"Lettuce" Reward the Herbivores

Ok, now that's all fine and dandy but let's be honest. How many kids are going to track their veggies for fun? We need rewards and motivation! This was kinda hard for those creating the program because my rewards usually involve some sort of junk food (which kinda defeats the purpose). So after a little brain storming we came up with the perfect plan. A movie party! And, to fit the theme, we decided to watch Veggie Tales. So a day or two after the tracking was over we got all the kids in the movie room and put it on.

Of course we had to have a craft/game to go along with our show (because that's how we roll). So we played a game of memory. We put words of veggies (the same ones we used for bingo and the pretest) on one card and had the kids draw a picture of the veggie on the other. Then we played memory!

This was actually their final test, but in the form of a game they did not even realize they were showing off their newly acquired skills and knowledge.

Vegetable Tracker

Now that you have introduced the kids to vegetables, you need a way to keep track of their progress. Make a chart or some fun way to measure how many vegetables they eat.  We posted these papers (see link below) with each child's name on the wall in our family room.  Every time they ate a serving of vegetables they got to put a sticker on.  We did 15 stickers for 2 weeks but you can change based on your child's health level.  For many of the children participating this was a big challenge.  So even if your child is not eating like a professional athlete yet, don't worry just be glad they're making some progress.

Veggie Tracker

Vegetable Bingo

We were assigned to spend three hours with children. Easy enough there are nine constantly in our home, but our plans kind went out the wahzoo. Originally, Kacy and I (Kiy) planned on teaching our siblings about vegetables. We were going to do a quick game of Bingo and tell them they got a sticker when they ate a serving of veggies. But as we began we couldn't stop. We saw a way we could improve these children's life as well as our own. We decided to start with the most important, vegetables, and if it didn't work at least we'd get the grade and maybe get the kids to eat a few carrots (heaven forbid they eat anything green). We did a pretest to see how much they knew and were not too surprised about the answers (besides the fact that the five-year-old didn't think he knew what sweet potatoes were when we have them quite often). Now we knew where to start. Bingo. It's always a great beginning.

You will have one extra. 

Have the kids design their own board with pics provided. 

Older children can match the words with the picutres.
Or the reader can cut these into strips and put them in a bowl.

Have fun! We used corn kernels as markers and pennies as prizes. Be creative! Try not to use candy (since this is suppose to teach kids to be healthy).