Nutrition Education

Nutrition education empowers children and adults to make healthy choices.

Even as programs aim to serve nutritious foods, it is also important to educate both children and adults about healthy eating so that they can understand the "why" behind nutrition. This allows for better implementation of healthy choices at child cares and at home. A strong knowledge foundation can also support children as they grow and help prevent obesity and chronic diseases in the long term. Below you will find resources that can help you find nutrition education for you, your staff, the children you care for, and enrolled families.

Best Practices

The resources on this page can help child care programs reach all of the following best practices:

  • “Offer nutrition information to parents 2 times per year or more.”
  • “Offer planned nutrition education opportunities for children 1 time per week or more.”
  • “Provide training opportunities on nutrition (other than food safety and food program guidelines) for caregivers 2 times per year or more.”

Resources for adult and child nutrition education:

  • Discover MyPlate: Nutrition Education for Kindergarteners

Summary: While geared towards kindergarteners, child care providers may find some of these learning tools helpful, such as the printable food cards, videos, parent resources, and more.
Source: United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service
Access: https://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/myplate/nutrition-education-kindergarten

  • Education and Training Resources

Summary: In-person, virtual, and on-demand training courses and educational material related to CACFP meal patterns are available for professional development credit. Registration is free.
Source: Institute of Child Nutrition
Access: https://theicn.org/cacfp/

  • Enrichment Zone: Fitness, Friends, and Fun

Summary: Provides nutrition and physical activity ideas for Pre-K programs. Scroll down and click on the “Download Pre-K Program” or “Download Pre-K Basket” text to see more.
Source: Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation and Discovery Education
Access: https://togethercounts.com/enrichment-zone/

  • Gardening and Nutrition Education in Early Care and Education

Summary: List of curriculums, each focusing on different fruits and vegetables and providing various lesson plans and activities. This site also contains resources for gardening with diverse abilities and interests (physical, learning, language, sensory, etc.).
Source: Michigan State University Extension
Access: 

  • Go Nutrition and Physical Activity Self-Assessment for Child Care (Go NAPSACC) Bilingual Self-Assessments

Summary: Contacting a consultant and completing the online version of the Go NAPSACC assessments opens up a suite of planning, learning, and implementation tools to understand further what the health best practices are and how to reach them at your child care.
Source: Go Nutritional and Physical Activity Self-Assessment for Child Care (Go NAPSACC)
Access: https://gonapsacc.org/our-focus-areas

  • Grow It, Try It, Like It! Nutrition Education Kit

Summary: A garden-themed nutrition education kit that introduces children to three fruits and three vegetables. It contains seven booklets with fun activities that guide children through an imaginary garden. Each set of lessons contains hands-on activities, planting activities, and nutrition education activities that introduce MyPlate. Download this kit for free or use the Resource Order Form to order a hard copy.
Source: United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service
Access: https://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/grow-it

  • Healthy Kids, Healthy Future

Summary: Under the section of "Nurture Healthy Eaters," find curriculums and activities for nutrition education of children under 5.
Source: The Nemours Foundation
Access: https://healthykidshealthyfuture.org/5-healthy-goals/nurture-healthy-eaters/classroom-activities/

  • Launch Your Day with Breakfast! Stickers

Summary: Use these stickers to help promote eating breakfast. They can be downloaded or ordered from the Team Nutrition website.
Source: United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service
Access: https://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/launch-your-day-breakfast-stickers

  • Life Stages: Preschoolers

Summary: Find resources related to helping young children build a healthy plate. Downloadable activities, parent communication, age-appropriate recommendations, and developmental stage resources can be found by scrolling down.
Source: MyPlate, United States Department of Agriculture
Access: https://www.myplate.gov/life-stages/preschoolers

  • Make Today a Try-Day!

Summary: Poster and sticker set that you can use in your child care setting to encourage children to try new foods. Available by download or you can order from the Team Nutrition website.
Source: United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service
Access: https://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/tryday-stickers

  • Making Healthy Choices: Newsletters for Parents

Summary: Nutrition newsletters designed for parents, featuring tips for healthier diets. In particular, see Week 3 – Love your veggies, Week 4 – Enjoy Fruit, Week 5 – Whole grains, Week 6 – Plan for protein, Week 7 – More than meat, Week 8 – Don’t forget diary, Week 9 – Don’t fear fat, Week 10 – Think about your drink, Week 11 – Beyond Fresh, Week 17 – Pleasing Picky Eaters, and Week 21: Get more veggies.
Source: Michigan State University Extension
Access: https://www.canr.msu.edu/making_healthy_choices/newsletters-for-parents

  • Model Policies for Creating a Healthy Nutrition and Physical Activity Environment in Child Care Settings

Summary: This nutrition toolkit describes model policies and provides tips to on how to fulfill them.
Source: Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, Bureau of Community Food and Nutrition Assistance
Access: https://health.mo.gov/living/dnhs_pdfs/ChildCareModelPolicies.pdf

  • MyPlate Coloring Sheets

Summary: These sheets can be used to reinforce nutrition education lessons. They can be downloaded and printed or ordered for free.
Source: United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service
Access: https://milkmeansmore.org/product/my-plate-handout-for-kids/

  • MyPlate Activity Resources

Summary: Various Coloring Sheets, MyPlate Champion Certificate/Pledge, Plan Menu, and posters, and place mats can be printed for free as part of nutrition lessons.
Source: United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service
Access: https://www.myplate.gov/resources/print-materials?page=3

  • MyPlate Nate and Kate Stickers

Summary: These stickers can be downloaded to be used for children during lessons. They can also be used to reward children when they choose to eat healthy foods from the five foods groups. Download or order from Team Nutrition.
Source: United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service
Access: https://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/fbg

  • Nibbles for Health: Nutrition Newsletters for Parents of Young Children

Summary: Nibbles for Health has reproducible newsletters that can be given to parents to address many of the challenges they face every day, even as they reinforce lessons being taught to children in child care. Topics include portion sizes, reducing sugar, reducing sodium, selective eating, increasing nutritious food groups, and more. Newsletters can be downloaded, or hard copies may be ordered.
Source: United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service
Access: https://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/nibbles

  • Parents Talk About Feeding

Summary: Scroll down to find Parents Talk About Feeding Flyers and LANA Story Books that can be shared with families. Though part of a bigger known as Learning About Nutrition Through Activities (LANA), these parent resources can be printed and shared for free.
Source: Minnesota Department of Health
Access: https://getvisualz.com/pages/lana

  • Sesame Street: Healthy Habits for Life

Summary: Activities for providers, children, and families, some of which focus on nutrition and physical activity.
Source: Sesame Workshop
Access: https://www.sesamestreet.org/parents/learning-areas/health

  • Team Nutrition Resources for Child Care

Summary: Team Nutrition, under the USDA, provides training and technical assistance to child care providers and program operators, CACFP best practices, nutrition and developmental education for providers and families, and resources to support a healthier environment. Educational or promotional material can be downloaded for free, or ordered from Team Nutrition.
Source: United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service
Access: https://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/child-care-organization

  • The Two Bite Club (English and Spanish)

Summary: This educational storybook, available in English and in Spanish, was developed to introduce MyPlate to young children. Parents or caregivers can read the book to children and encourage them to try foods from each food group by eating just two bites, just like the characters in the story. You can download a copy from this site or follow the Resource Order Form link to get a free hard copy.
Source: United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service
Access: http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/two-bite-club

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