How Many Ways Can We Eat…?

How to choose a healthy array of fruits and veggies every day? Pick several bright colors! Fix them in tasty new ways, too.

• 1.

  <STRONG>Discover nutritious foods.</STRONG> Colorful foods—fruits and vegetables—help keep you healthy! When you eat a variety of produce colors, you get a range of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Brainstorm a list of different fruits and vegetables. If you like, group them by color, such as juicy orange, radiant red, deep purple, yummy yellow, even hot pink! Write their names in matching Crayola® Erasable Colored Pencil colors. To make corrections, just erase!

• 2.

  Talk with someone in your family about how to prepare these vegetables and fruits—fresh, frozen, or canned. Maybe you eat fruit and veggie soups, warm or cold. Add these ideas to your class list, too.

• 3.

  <STRONG>Choose a cool (or hot) color.</STRONG> Choose one favorite colorful fruit or vegetable, such as broccoli or pineapple. How many ways can you eat it? Make a cool cube to show your ideas. On posterboard, draw six paper-plate-sized circles. Within each circle, draw a square so all four corners touch the circle’s sides. Cut out the circles with Crayola Scissors.

• 4.

  Inside <EM>four</EM> squares, use Crayola Markers and Twistables® to draw different ways to serve your food choice such as soups, sauces, stir-fry, juice, raw with dip, and salads. In <EM>one </EM>square, include nutritional information about the food, such as the vitamins a serving contains. In the last square, write a recipe. Ask a family member for one that reflects your heritage, such as pasta sauce or blueberry scones.

• 5.

  <STRONG>Construct your cube.</STRONG> Decorate your circles with bright patterns and designs. Along the lines that form each square, fold upward.

• 6.

  Place one circle face down on its edges. Select one edge from each of four other circles. Attach them to the edges of the circle facing down with a Crayola Glue Stick. Glue edges to adjoining edges, and add the last square to form a cube. Share the inform

Benefits

• Students list an array of colorful, nutritious fruits and vegetables.
• Students choose healthy fruits or vegetables and research nutrition information and family recipes.
• Students construct and decorate a 3-D paper cube showing several ways to prepare their colorful foods.

Adaptations

• Create a class recipe book using family recipes. Invite family members to prepare them with your classmates.
• Children with special needs may find it helpful to draw still-lifes of their food using real produce or photos for reference.
• Share one healthy snack each day until everyone’s favorite fruits and vegetables have been sampled.
• Make vegetable soup or fruit salad. Each classmate could provide one fruit or vegetable. Or hold a Family Heritage Event when families bring ethnic dishes to share.
• Assessment: Check the nutritional information and recipe for accuracy and completeness. Look for creative representations and serving ideas.