Teaching kids about the importance of vitamins and minerals may help them improve their eating habits, as well as their health. Starting young with nutrition education will ensure that children understand the importance of eating foods with essential vitamins and minerals and will increase the amount of healthy foods they eat. Making these lessons engaging and interesting may encourage kids to pay closer attention, learn something new and begin applying those concepts to their own lives.
Step 1
Make a vitamin and mineral book. Use one piece of paper for each of the main vitamins and minerals, including vitamins A, B, C, D and E, as well as potassium, magnesium, calcium and iron. Make a copy of each page for each child and staple it into a book. Work on one page at a time by telling children what each nutrient does and have children draw pictures to represent these functions, such as a bone for calcium and an eye for vitamin A. Have the kids draw pictures of what foods contain each nutrient on their corresponding page.
Step 2
Make classroom posters. Use a piece of poster board and label each with one vitamin or mineral. Include a short description of what each does. Divide the children into groups and assign each group one vitamin or mineral. Provide magazines, scissors and glue. Instruct the kids to find foods that have their nutrient in them to decorate the poster with. Allow the pages to dry. Hang them in a prominent place in the classroom to remind students about what foods contain what vitamins and minerals.
Step 3
Put on plays or skits. Assign each student a vitamin or mineral and instruct them to write a short play or skit that demonstrates what their nutrient does. Encourage students to be creative or silly to get their message across in an entertaining way. Offer help to guide students, such as pantomiming a broken bone for calcium. Suggest that students make props, such as certain foods, to supplement their play. Allow children to work together if their vitamin or mineral needs another, like calcium and vitamin D or iron and vitamin C.
Tips and Warnings
- Quiz students at lunch to see how much they remember. Call on students to tell you what vitamins or minerals are in each of their foods. Show the students your lunch and have them list the vitamins and minerals you are eating as another way to play.
Things You'll Need
- Paper
- Pencils
- Crayons
- Poster board
- Glue
- Scissors
- Magazines
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