Teaching children about vitamins can help them understand what healthy foods to choose to help their bodies work at peak performance. Talking about each vitamin, what it can help improve and where to find that particular vitamin can help make the theory of the different types of vitamins real to children. Point out everyday applications for each vitamin so children can see how healthy foods and good nutrition can affect them each day.
Step 1
Introduce the different vitamins as a letter that you've cut out of poster board. Make the letter clear and bright, and place it where all of the children can see it. Talk about the vitamin and what bodily functions it affects. Apply it to the children. For instance, "Kids and Cooking" notes that vitamin A is good for eyes, so you can tell the children it helps them see different colors or helps them to see in the dark.
Step 2
Cut a variety of pictures from magazines or print out pictures of foods that have different vitamins in them. You can show the pictures of the food and relate it to the vitamin. KidsHealth.org recommends milk and dairy products for vitamin D, so a picture of milk, cheese or even a cow can help children associate the vitamin with the food. If you can, bring in a variety of foods to taste-test for each vitamin.
Step 3
Engage the children in a craft or activity that will help them to learn more about vitamins and their importance. Have each child lay on an unrolled piece of butcher paper and stay still while you trace the outline of their bodies. Cut the butcher paper at the bottom so the children have a large piece of paper to work with.
Step 4
Hand out boxes of old magazines that have readily available pictures of faces and vitamin-rich foods. Cooking magazines, lifestyle magazines and family magazines are best. Instruct the children to cut out pictures of foods and facial features that they can use to decorate their silhouettes you have traced.
Step 5
Instruct the children to glue on the facial features on their silhouettes, and then label their different food pictures with the correct vitamin that it is rich in. Then, have them glue the food onto the body part the vitamin is most likely to benefit. Once they are done decorating, cut out the silhouette for a reminder project they can hang where they will see it often.
Things You'll Need
- Poster board
- Butcher paper
- Markers
- Old magazines
- Safety scissors
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