Preschool Science - My Body Unit (Lesson 2)

We are learning about healthy foods in the "My Body" preschool science unit. In our very first lesson, we painted and cut our body outline on art paper. So for the next lesson, we focused on a healthy body image. Teaching my child to eat healthy and then reflecting on those options regularly is very important to me. I have also been using this lesson to talk about why we must eat our veggies or proteins. I have been talking about what is healthy versus unhealthy for our body. We have been discussing, identifying and learning about new objects at the supermarket. Overall, this is a good unit that reinforces a healthy body image and teaches about good/bad food choices.

Brainstorming Discussion: we looked at the Food guide to discuss, identify and compare food objects. I let my preschooler ask questions about the food guide and its contents.

© Everything Family Guide

Prep: I pre-made a rainbow chart that represented the colors of the food guide (green, yellow, blue and red). I labelled each paper with their corresponding names. For example, the color red represented 'Meats & Alternatives'.

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Activity #1: We collected all the spare grocery store flyers at our home. We talked about all the items that we might need and got to work by cutting out grocery items. I also let my preschooler help me with the cutting. We collected all grocery item pictures in a ziploc baggie for the next activity.

© Everything Family Guide

Activity # 2: Next, I placed the chart and the ziploc bag on a table and demonstrated by finding and placing a picture on the right colored chart paper. I told him that he had to place the objects in their category and leave out the ones he didn't understand. Then I let my preschooler sort and name objects aloud as he placed them on the right colored chart paper. 

© Everything Family Guide

Informal Assessment: When he was done, we checked for errors and discussed why certain objects belong in a category even if they dont resemble meat or grain. For example, nuts are an excellent source of protein and will fit in the meats category even though it is not a meat product. We also talked about objects he didn't know or recognize.

Overall, this project is going well. For the next few lessons, we will explore healthy versus unhealthy food items through food graphing/counting, treasure hunts, designing a healthy/unhealthy meal plan and plate, and identifying/matching food items.

Thanks for reading! Do you have any suggestions or comments about this project? Let me know....

Annie