Through fun hands-on learning activities young children can learn life-long healthy eating habits and be introduced to a variety of fresh and local foods. By integrating nutrition education into curriculum, children will learn important developmental skills and help your program meet the Illinois Early Learning and Development Standards.
Check out these great resources for more information on how to incorporate nutrition education into your ECE program:
Photo Courtesy of the National Farm to School Network.
Curriculum:
- Farm to Preschool Harvest of the Month Curriculum [PDF] by Urban and Environmental Policy Institute, Occidental College
- Grow It, Try It, Like It! Nutrition Education Kit Featuring MyPlate [website] by United States Department of Agriculture
- Preschool Lesson Plans [website] by Growing Minds
- How’s It Growing? [PDF] by Emily Mehr
- Multicultural Collection of Farm to ECE Books [website] by Ready Set Grow
- Bilingual Gardening Dictionary [PDF] by University of California Agriculture and Natural Resource
Activities:
- Activity Guides for Educators & Families [website] by Life Lab
Recipies:
- Chop Chop Recipes [website] by Chop Chop
- Color Me Healthy Recipes [website] by Color Me Healthy