Rainbow Fun supports the development of healthy eating habits in young children ages three to six. Teaching about food early in life helps children to acquire tastes for a variety of different foods.
This section of Rainbow Fun contains 11 activities. We encourage you to do these activities or variations of them as often as possible. Each activity includes the following information:
The five senses foster a child’s developmental process and therefore it is important that learning activities involve these senses. The senses include sight, smell, taste, touch and sound.
To become familiar with foods that belong to the four food groups from Eating Well with Canada’s Food Guide.
This activity allows children the opportunity to count and compare groups of items. This type of activity encourages young children to expand their mathematical reasoning and learn the language needed to describe what they understand.
Distribute food pictures to each child. Have children identify what foods they have and what food groups they are from. Have the children get together into groups according to their food group.
To encourage discussion about healthy food choices.
Review the relationship between eating healthy food and the importance of food to the body. At an early age, children should begin to form an understanding of the relationship between healthy eating and health. Children can often relate to the need for food when they think of how they feel when they don’t eat breakfast. The importance of food should be explained in simple terms. “Food gives you energy to learn, work and play. It helps you grow and it keeps your body working.” Simple analogies can also be used to explain various concepts. “Just like a car needs gas for it to move, our bodies need food for us to move.”
To learn about foods from different parts of the world.
Culture can include attitudes, values, laws, and cherished beliefs or ways of doing things. A child who feels free and safe in the presence of cultural or religious differences will be able to sustain the confidence they need to learn.
By experiencing food and music from various cultural backgrounds, children become aware of and learn to develop an appreciation for new cultures and traditions.
Ask children to design a poster or story about their experience eating any new food for the first time.
To reinforce the importance of healthy eating through a fun music activity.
Eat Your Vegetables
(To the tune of “Frère Jacques”)
Eat your vegetables, eat your vegetables
All day long, all day long.
When you’re going to eat them, when you’re going to eat them,
You’ll be healthy and strong, healthy and strong.
What vegetable, what vegetable,
Does (child’s name) like to eat, Does (child’s name) like to eat?
I like (favourite vegetable), I like (favourite vegetable),
To stay healthy and strong, healthy and strong.
Source: Miriam Leibowitz, 2007
If You’re Healthy and You Know it
(To the tune of “If You’re Happy and You Know It”)
If you’re healthy and you know it, eat your carrots – chomp, chomp
If you’re healthy and you know it, eat your carrots – chomp, chomp
If you’re healthy and you know it, then your EYES will really show it
If you’re healthy and you know it, eat your carrots – chomp, chomp
If you’re healthy and you know it, eat your cereal – crunch, crunch
If you’re healthy and you know it, eat your cereal – crunch, crunch
If you’re healthy and you know it, then your ENERGY will show it
If you’re healthy and you know it, eat your cereal – crunch, crunch
If you’re healthy and you know it, drink your milk – slurp, slurp
If you’re healthy and you know it, drink your milk – slurp, slurp
If you’re healthy and you know it, then your BONES will really show it
If you’re healthy and you know it, drink your milk – slurp, slurp
If you’re healthy and you know it, eat your eggs – yum, yum
If you’re healthy and you know it, eat your eggs – yum, yum
If you’re healthy and you know it, then your MUSCLES will really show it
If you’re healthy and you know it, eat your eggs – yum, yum
If you’re healthy and you know it, eat your lunch –
chomp, chomp, crunch, crunch, slurp, slurp, yum, yum
If you’re healthy and you know it, eat your lunch –
chomp, chomp, crunch, crunch, slurp, slurp, yum, yum
If you’re healthy and you know it, then your SMILE will really show it
If you’re healthy and you know it, eat your lunch –
chomp, chomp, crunch, crunch, slurp, slurp, yum, yum!
Through both participating and listening to music, children can experience this powerful means of expression, as well as develop humour and language skills.
Encourage children to make up their own verses.
To learn about making healthy food choices through a fun dramatic play activity.
Dramatic play allows children to learn valuable real world lessons and expands their awareness of self in relation to others and the environment.
Through this play activity, teachers can enhance numeracy skills by discussing different food utensils and comparing their shapes and sizes. Reviewing proper table manners such as sitting down to eat and not talking with food in your mouth (to decrease the risk of choking) can also be incorporated into this activity.
Children can make their own menus by drawing pictures of their favourite foods and colouring them.
To reinforce concepts of healthy eating by having children create their own lunch bag.
A healthy lunch should consist of a variety of foods from each of the four food groups from Eating Well with Canada’s Food Guide to ensure children get the nutrients their bodies need. Although not all cultural foods appear on the guide, they can fit into the four food groups and be part of a healthy eating pattern.
Explore different cultural foods by asking children to identify various foods they eat at home for lunch.
To learn the importance of eating brightly coloured vegetables and fruit.
Vegetables and fruit contain important nutrients such as vitamins, minerals and fibre. They are usually low in fat and calories. The Vegetables and Fruit food group is the most prominent arc in the rainbow on Eating Well with Canada’s Food Guide, emphasizing the important role these foods play in a healthy eating pattern. Canada’s Food Guide encourages eating a variety of coloured vegetables and fruit and in particular, ones that are orange and dark green.
The five senses include sight, smell, taste, touch and sound. This activity focuses on the sense of sight and assists children in visually recognizing different coloured vegetables and fruit.
Children can also draw the visual differences between the inside and outside of various vegetables and fruit.
To learn about the sounds food make when being prepared and eaten through a fun dramatic play and sensory based activity.
None needed
The five senses foster a child’s developmental process and therefore it is important that learning activities involve these senses. The senses include sight, smell, taste, touch and sound.
Review the sense of sound with the children and explain how preparation sounds include: squeezing, cutting, boiling, popping, cracking, grating, beating and sizzling.
Eating sounds include: crunching, chewing, swallowing, squishing and sucking.
The sounds foods make when being eaten and prepared can be discussed during snack or lunch time, while the children are eating their food.
To encourage discussion about healthy eating through reading books.
Read one of the suggested books and discuss the importance of healthy eating with the children.
For younger preschoolers
For preschoolers/school-aged
All books are available through the Toronto Public Libraries system.
It is never too early to introduce books to children. Reading to young children assists them in learning to read, write, and understand concepts of print. As well, reading aloud in small groups encourages children to participate by asking questions.
Have each child create their own food-related story.
To understand the importance of drinking water for a healthy body.
Discuss with children how important it is to drink water. Our bodies are mostly made up of water. Our bodies use water to help us digest our food, keep us cool in the heat by sweating, and help every part of our bodies work the way they should. For our bodies to work well, we have to keep replacing the water we lose everyday. We lose water when we urinate, sweat and even breathe.
Cut out the sponges into simple body shapes, like a ginger bread ma
A meal pattern that consists of a variety of foods from the four food groups will ensure that a child is getting the nutrients and energy needed for proper growth and development. The more often children are exposed to new foods, the more likely they are to accept them.
Although parents and caregivers are responsible for what children eat, children are responsible for how much they eat. Encourage children to eat when they are hungry and stop when they are just full. As long as children are energetic, growing and their hunger and thirst are satisfied, they are likely eating the right amount of food.
Children have small stomachs that tend to fill up quickly and therefore need to eat small amounts of food throughout the day.
Breakfast is a very important meal, especially for young children. Without something to eat in the morning, young children may be drowsy, irritable, and/or inattentive at school, which can inhibit their learning. A complete breakfast should include foods from at least three of the four food groups.
As children grow, they learn to make decisions and begin to make more choices on their own. As childcare providers and teachers, both you and parents can be positive role models for children by following the recommendations in Eating Well with Canada’s Food Guide. Children will be more likely to enjoy a variety of foods and try new foods if they see you doing the same.
Between the ages of two and five, children need enough calories for growth and development. Foods that are nutritious and high in fat such as milk and cheese should not be restricted.
Eating Well with Canada’s Food Guide suggests that children drink water regularly to satisfy thirst. Other healthy beverage choices include milk and 100% juice. A half cup (125 mL) of 100% juice equals one serving from the Vegetables and Fruit food group. Choose vegetables and fruit more often than juice as they contain fibre. The maximum amount of juice children ages 1-6 years of age should drink is 175 mL (3/4 cup) daily.
The early years are a period of time when young children are discovering new foods and learning to appreciate healthy eating. Simple food-related tasks such as setting the table, making muffins, helping to cut open a fruit or washing vegetables can help foster feelings of self-esteem and accomplishment in children. Provide a pleasant environment by sitting down to eat with children and leaving the television off during meal times. It is also important to set routine time for meals and snacks while ensuring adequate time for children to eat.
For more information on healthy eating including healthy meals and tips for feeding children, visit the Nutrition and Food Access website.
| For the body | For the mind |
|---|---|
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Eating Well with Canada’s Food Guide
Eating well with Canada’s Food Guide outlines the amount of food people need and what type of food is part of a healthy eating pattern. The eating pattern in Canada’s Food Guide includes foods from all four food groups: Vegetables and Fruits, Grain Products, Milk and Alternatives, and Meat and Alternatives, plus a small amount of added unsaturated fat. Choosing a variety of foods from each of these food groups is the best way to ensure children ages two and older get the nutrients and calories they need for healthy growth and development.
| Food Group | Example of single serving | 2 – 3 year-olds | 4 – 8 year-olds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vegetables & Fruit |
|
4 | 5 |
| Grain Products |
|
3 | 4 |
| Milk & Alternatives* |
|
2 | 2 |
| Meat& Alternatives |
|
1 | 1 |
*Eating Well with Canada’s Food Guide recommends offering children a total of two cups of milk or fortified soy beverage every day to ensure they meet their vitamin D requirement (Eating Well with Canada’s Food Guide: A Resource for Educators and Communicators, Health Canada, 2007). For more information, visit Eating Well with Canada’s Food Guide.