Encourage Healthy Eating: With a Book!

 

Learn new things and try new foods! Incorporating snacks into your class lessons and activities is a great way to introduce new foods while teaching important early learning concepts. Why not combine snack time with story time? Students will enjoy eating the same foods as their favorite book characters, and introducing foods through these characters will lend familiarity to foods children may be reluctant to try. Check out these neat examples below!

Jamberry by Bruce Degen

In this 'berry' wonderful tale, a little boy and his bear friend discover all kinds of delicious berries when they go exploring. The melodious rhyming sounds in this book roll off the tongue like berries into a bucket, easily engaging young listeners. Read with an assortment of berries, have some toast and jam, or try these berry recipes below!

Berry Popsicles
Creamy Frozen Fruit Pops
Triple Berry Popsicles
Berries & Cream Popsicles
Fruit & Veggie Popsicles

Berry Smoothies
Three Fruit Yogurt Shake
Berry Blast Smoothie
Strawberry Banana Smoothie

Berry Muffins/Cookies
Baked Blueberry Oatmeal Cups
Banana Berry Buttons 
Lemon Blueberry Muffins 
Healthy Raspberry Muffins

 Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlert

In this classic, a father and child grow vegetables and make their own soup together! Ehlert simplifies the gardening process for young minds with easy-to-understand, straightforward diction and brightly colored, labeled illustrations of vegetables and the tools used to grow them. For the soup-making process, she explains the utensils and other kitchenware used.

When you read this story aloud to your classroom, bring in examples of different vegetables for your students to examine texture and smell.

Make an assorted platter of vegetables for your students to try as you talk about these vegetables in the book.

Read this book on a day you will be serving vegetable soup to facilitate a discussion on how those vegetables are grown.

You may also want your kids to grow their own mini vegetable garden!

If You Give a Moose a Muffin by Laura Joffe Numeroff 

If you give a moose a muffin, he might want a whole bunch of things to go with it! Filled with humorous illustrations and lovable characters, this classic children's book is sure to leave your kids craving more...muffins!

Try these healthy whole wheat muffin recipes at the links below:
Sweet Spinach Muffins
Healthy Cinnamon Peach Muffins
Healthy Apple Muffins
Healthy Lemon Blueberry Muffins

For more healthy and kid-friendly muffin recipes, check out these listings:
Super Healthy Kids--Muffins
Babble--23 Wholesome Muffin Recipes
KidSpot--19 Healthy Muffin Recipes

Encourage Healthy Eating: With a Craft!

 Encourage Healthy Eating: With a Craft!

Forget the paints! It's time for some edible arts and crafts! Getting kids to eat their fruits and vegetables can be tricky, especially when introducing unfamiliar foods for the first time. Tackle this challenge by incorporating healthy foods into multiple activities in your classroom. The more kids form positive associations with foods, the more likely they will be to try them at lunch time and snack time. Check out these neat food crafts below to help you get started!

Peanut Butter Celery Butterflies

 

These butterflies really are made out of butter! 

What You Need:
Pretzels
Celery
Peanut Butter (or other substitute)
Googly Candy Eyes

1.Slice your celery sticks into desired lengths.
2.Fill each celery stick with peanut butter.
3.Use two small pretzels for the wings on your butterfly or break one large pretzel in half and stick one half on each side of the celery stick.
4.Stick your candy eyes on with peanut butter.

Owl Toast

You'll be wise like this owl if you eat your fruits and whole grains.

What You Need:
Whole Grain Sliced Bread
Strawberries (sliced)
Blueberries
Bananas (sliced)
Cheerios
Peanut Butter (or other substitute)

1.Pre-slice the bananas and strawberries and put them into two separate bowls.
2.Give each child a slice of bread (toasted if you prefer).
3.Have each child spread the peanut butter over the toast.
4.For the owl eyes, stick two slices of banana at the top of the toast with one blueberry on each banana slice.
5.Use the sliced strawberries for wings by placing one strawberry slice on each side of the toast, toward the bottom.
6.For the nose, place a small strawberry slice underneath and between the eyes, in the center of the toast.
7. The cheerios can be used to decorate the remaining space on the toast.

Grape Caterpillars

You can prepare these cute critters ahead of time or let the kids make them.

What You Need:
Skewers (for young children, try coffee stirrers, mini straws, or popsicle sticks; we wouldn't want anyone poking their eyes!) 
Grapes
Strawberries (cherry tomatoes will work too!)
Googly Candy Eyes
Peanut Butter (or other substitute)
Black Icing Gel or Edible Black Food Marker (optional)
Parsley/Cilantro Stalks (optional)

1.Stick your strawberry onto one end of the skewer. Then string the grapes onto the skewer behind the strawberry.
2.Stick your candy eyes onto the strawberry using peanut butter or other substitute.
3.Use your icing gel or food marker to draw a smile if desired.
4.Your parsley/cilantro stalks will make perfect antennae! 

Ladybug BLT

What an easy way to spruce up a BLT or tomato sandwich!

What You Need:
Whole Grain Bread
Bacon (optional)
Lettuce
Tomato
Black Olives
Googly Candy Eyes
Parsley/Cilantro Stalks

1.Simply cut your tomato slice in half to make the wings.
2.Slice up one black olive to make the dots on the wings, and use a whole black olive for the ladybug's head.
3.Stick your candy eyes onto the olive using peanut butter or other substitute.
4.Your parsley/cilantro stalks will make perfect antennae!

**Tip: For any of these crafts, feel free to substitute other fruits/ingredients based on your children's needs and preferences. Substitute ingredients as needed to accommodate food allergies. Some good substitutes for peanut butter include sunflower seed butter, tahini butter, soynut butter, and almond butter.**

Remember that PureFUN! Supply is here to help with all your childcare supply needs! 
Any snack above would pair great with PureFUN! 100% Juice!  

Share with us ideas that you use to encourage healthy eating in your school!!

CACFP: What It Does and Why It Matters

CACFP: What It Does and Why It Matters

 

What is the CACFP?

The CACFP began in 1963 as the Special Food Service Program for Children, a government-funded initiative designed to provide children from low-income families with meals when schools were not in session. Since that time, the program, now known as the Child and Adult Care Food Program, has greatly expanded to provide grants to child care centers, after school care centers, day care homes, adult day care centers, and emergency shelters serving meals and snacks. These cash reimbursements are contingent upon each center's compliance with established federal regulations. Food may be free, reduced, or paid for at a certain rate depending on each center's needs. This program is important because it provides at-risk children and adults with nutritious meals they may not have access to otherwise.

Generally, reimbursements may be provided for the following:

Centers and Day Care Homes: Up to 2 meals and 1 snack per day (for eligible children and adults)

Emergency Shelters: Up to 3 meals per day

At-risk After School Care Centers: Up to 1 meal and 1 snack per day

Generally, the program assists:

Child Care Centers & Day Care Homes: Infants and Children up to age 12
Adult Day Care Centers/Homes: Adults ages 60 or older or those who are physically or mentally impaired
After School Care Centers & Emergency Shelters: Children up to age 18
Children of Migrant Workers: Up to age 15

New guidelines on servings and meal patterns were put into place in April of 2016, and centers had until October 1, 2017 to be in compliance with these new standards. Updated servings and meal patterns by age division can be found here.

What types of food do the CACFP meal guidelines recommend?

Fruits

Most are naturally low in fat, sodium, and calories and contain no cholesterol.

Essential nutrients include potassium, dietary fiber, vitamin C, and folic acid.

Vegetables

Most are naturally low in fat and calories and contain no cholesterol.

Essential nutrients include potassium, dietary fiber, folic acid, vitamin A, and vitamin C.

Dry Beans and Peas

These provide plant protein, iron, and zinc, as well as dietary fiber, folic acid, and potassium. 

They can count as either a vegetable or a protein.

Protein

Essential nutrients include protein, B vitamins, vitamin E, iron, zinc, and magnesium.

Proteins build up bones, muscles, skin, blood, and cartilage as well as enzymes, hormones, and vitamins.

 

Whole Grains

Whole grains retain many nutrients, such as B vitamins and vitamin E, which are stripped out of refined grains by the refining process.

Fiber in whole grains helps to lower cholesterol.

Both bran and fiber prevent spikes in blood sugar by slowing starch breakdown.

Milk (Dairy)

  

Essential nutrients include calcium, potassium, protein, and vitamin D.

Hydrate with Plenty of Water

Make clean drinking water accessible throughout the day. 

What are the benefits of these nutrients?

Potassium: helps maintain a healthy blood pressure
Vitamin A: battles infections and keeps skin and eyes healthy
Dietary Fiber: helps reduce cholesterol
Vitamin C: aids the growth and repair of body tissues and maintains healthy gums and teeth; helps the body absorb iron
Folic Acid: aids the formation of red blood cells
Iron: carries oxygen in the blood
Zinc: aids biochemical reactions and the immune system
B Vitamins: aids in energy release, nervous system functioning, formation of red blood cells, and the building up of tissues
Magnesium: builds up bones and releases muscle energy
Calcium: builds strong bones and teeth
Vitamin D: regulates levels of phosphorus and calcium, thereby maintaining overall bone health

What does the CACFP recommend decreasing in your meal servings?

Less Salt and Sodium

High sodium intake increases the risk of high blood pressure, heart attack, and stroke. 

Low Solid Fat

 

 

Solid fats are fats, such as butter, shortening, and beef fat, that are solid at room temperature.

These fats usually raise "bad" cholesterol, which increases the risk of heart disease. 

 

Less Added Sugar

Too much added sugar, which is present in many processed foods, can result in increased blood pressure and chronic inflammation, which may result in heart disease later on in life. Tooth decay and obesity have also been linked to high sugar intake.

More information on the CACFP can be found on the USDA Food and Nutrition website at this link.

More information on healthy eating--options, tips, and benefits--can be found on the USDA Choose My Plate website at this link.

Healthy Habits

Here are some great tools to use in the classroom to teach your class about a balanced diet. These activity plates help teach kids what they should and should not have on their plates. Make it a classroom event with the book set and the hands on Activity sets!

A friendly reminder from Myplate.gov:

MyPlate is a reminder to find your healthy eating style and build it throughout your lifetime. Everything you eat and drink matters. The right mix can help you be healthier now and in the future. This means:

• Focus on variety, amount, and nutrition.
• Choose foods and beverages with less saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars.
• Start with small changes to build healthier eating styles.
• Support healthy eating for everyone.

Eating healthy is a journey shaped by many factors, including our stage of life, situations, preferences, access to food, culture, traditions, and the personal decisions we make over time. All your food and beverage choices count. MyPlate offers ideas and tips to help you create a healthier eating style that meets your individual needs and improves your health.

DIY:

What you will need: scissors, glue, construction paper, 3 compartment foam plate, a cup, utensils and a bowl.

You can have children cut fruits and vegetables out of newspapers, grocery store ads or print them out.

Set up a place mat for each kid (a piece of construction paper… any color will do),Write on the plates, bowls and cup the different food groups: grains, fruits, vegetables, dairy, protein

Have the child glue the appropriate food to the plate in their food group.

Reindeer treats for the classroom

Ingredients needed:

• Graham crackers
• Peanut butter
• Raisins
• Mini pretzels
• M&Ms

Directions:
1. Have the children spread the peanut butter on a graham cracker square. Give the children spoons and show them how to use the rounded edge to spread the peanut butter.
2. Let the children get two mini pretzels to add as the reindeer’s antlers.
3. Have the children add two raisins for the reindeer’s eyes.
4. Let the children choose an M&M for the reindeer’s nose.
5. Let the children enjoy their snack with a tasty cup of PureFUN! 100% Concentrated Juice

Healthy Snack Ideas: Winter Edition

Banana Snow Men – Start by chopping up a banana into slices. Each snowman will need 3 slices. Lay these flat on the plate in a snowman stack. For the buttons, grab a couple blueberries and placed them down the body of the snowman. You can use peanut butter or nutella to help make them stick. Don’t like blueberries? Try using a dark chocolate chip instead. For the arms, stick on two pretzel sticks to each side of the middle banana slice. The nose is just a sliver of carrot and the eyes are a each a dot of dark chocolate. 

Banana Penguin – Start by cutting a banana in half and dipping the top half in melted dark chocolate. You will want to hold it at a bit of a tilt to give the white stomach effect that penguins have. Next, cut 2 orange M&Ms in half. Place one half on the top middle of the banana, where the chocolate is, as the beak. Take the other 2 halves and place them at the bottom of the banana as feet.
You can eat the last half of the 2nd M& M.

Lastly, grab some white icing and add two dots for the eyes. To complete the look, grab your dark chocolate one last time and add on the pupil to each eye for a more realistic look.



Snowman Cheese Stick – Take your favorite color ribbon and cut it into small strips. Tie the strips around each cheese stick to create a scarf. Next, with a black sharpie, draw on buttons, eyes, and a mouth using small dots. With an orange sharpie, draw on the carrot nose. Lastly cut out the black hats out of construction paper and glue or tape them onto the snowman’s head.
 


Apple Penguin – Take your favorite apple and cut a heart shape into the side of it to create the face of your penguin. Using two strips of where you cut out the heart, take a bit of peanut butter and stick them on as wings. For the beak and feet, you can cut the shapes out of carrots or cheese. Using the peanut butter again, stick those into place.   Lastly, take two raisins and stick them on for the eyes.

Meet us back here for more crafts, snacks and fun!

Thanksgiving Snack Ideas – Healthy Treats

Turkey dips are a wonderful choice for adding some healthy options to your thanksgiving food selection. The first option is a ranch dip with a colorful variety of delicious bell peppers. The second gives a similar look using apples and a hummus dip. You could also use a caramel dip if you wanted to sweeten things up and put a healthier option on the desert table.

This tangerine turkey is a bright choice that will have your little ones begging for more. Cut a pear in half and create the feathers with an array of orange and apple slices. Use raisins or dark chocolate for the eyes and a peanut for the beak. Cheese makes for the perfect pair of feet. You can use cheese for the beak too for those with peanut allergies.

The final turkey treat includes the sandwich of your choice cut into the shape of a turkey body. Next, add carrots around for the tail feathers, raisins for the eyes, and a cashew for the beak.  Again, cut some cheese to create the legs and feet. You can even give your Turkey some grass to stand on by cutting up some celery.

Try adding a healthy drink to go along with your snacks with PureFUN! 100% Juice!`

Halloween Snack Ideas

Need some healthy snack ideas for a Halloween party in your classroom? We have just what you need! The kids will be getting plenty of the sweet stuff on Halloween night so here are a few ideas that will be a filling, healthy choice that still get snacks into the Halloween spirit!

This platter of Ghostly Bananas and Pumpkin Oranges is guaranteed to be scarily delicious! For the ghosts, simply peel your banana and cut it in half. To finish add two dark chocolate chips on for the eyes. You can use a little dab of peanut butter or Nutella to make them stick.

Try placing a dark chocolate chip upside down underneath the eyes for a mouth!

The pumpkin oranges are just as simple! Peel your orange and cut up a stalk of celery into little stems. Add a stem into each pumpkin by pushing it into place. If you have trouble, try using a straw to create a hole at the top first. 

Want to keep the peel on your orange? Just grab a food marker from your local grocery store and draw a Jack-O-Lantern face onto the outside of your orange. Now you have a Jack-O-Lantern Orange that’s ready to eat!

 

 

You can use this same technique using a permanent marker on top of a peaches cup! Talk about a quick and festive snack! This Jack in the Cup will be a hit in any classroom of little ones!

 

Peanut butter crackers are a classic snack time favorite! Turn them into Spider Sandwiches by adding 4 pretzel sticks cut in half to each side. Be sure to put enough peanut butter in the middle to make them stick well! Lastly take a dab of cream cheese and place a raisin on top to create the eyes.

Try getting your students in on the fun and allowing them to help out in creating these adorable snacks!

Fun Foods – Cafeteria Caterpillars

These little critters are the perfect healthy snack to make in your classroom or even to add to your student’s lunchbox. It only takes a few minutes to create each caterpillar and students can easily get in on the fun.

 

You will need: wooden skewers, grapes, vanilla frosting and mini chocolate chips.

Start by sliding the grapes onto the skewer one by one. When you have the skewer filled you can add a small dot of vanilla frosting on the end grape. This will act as “glue” for the eyes. Lastly, stick a mini chocolate chip on top of the glue.

Try adding the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar along with this idea. All you need is a purple grape or baby tomato for the head. That’s a lesson, a craft, and a snack all in one! 

Fun Foods – Butterfly Bags

This adorable butterfly is the perfect way to get your little ones excited about healthy eating this school year! This idea doubles as a craft time activity and is a breeze to create. All you need are clothes pins, wiggle eyes, chenille stems and glue. You can purchase colored clothes pins or have your students decorate them with markers or paint. You will want to make sure each student has 1 clothespin, 2 wiggle eyes and 2 chenille stems.

Start by spinning your chenille stems to give the antennas a colorful, new look. You can then take your glue and place the center of the stems in the grove on the pinching side of the clothes pin. Make sure you press the chenille stem in before closing the pin so that the two sides don’t stick together.

Next, take your wiggle eyes and glue them into place. We especially love the look of the larger ones like the eyes pictured above!

After letting the glue dry, fill up a snack size Ziploc bag with your students favorite healthy snack. You will want to leave enough room for the clothes pin to fit onto the bag without smushing the food. Place your clothespin in the center of your bag and you have a fun little butterfly that’s perfect for lunch time!

Fun Foods – Apple Cars

Looking for a way to encourage your little one to make healthier eating choices? This fun food idea is perfect for you! By adding a little fun to your healthy snack each day, your student will be excited for snack time and trying out the new foods they get to create things with.

This one is simple to create. All you need is an apple, grapes and toothpicks. Start by cutting your apple into slices and the grapes into halves. You will need two grapes per car to give you four tires for each one. Take two tooth picks and push them through the inner side of the apple on the top and bottom to act as the axels for your wheels. Lastly, add the grape wheels onto the toothpicks with the cut side facing outward. Now you have an adorable snack that is good for playing and eating.

Check back here for more back to school ideas and fun foods that are healthy for your little ones!

POPular Summer Snacks for Sunny Days

These cool and refreshing snack Pops are perfect for summer time with your kiddos! In just a few simple steps you can create healthy snacks to help kids cool down on a hot summer’s day. Not only will you love the easy set up with just a few ingredients, but your children will also love the great tastes of these pops!

Banana Pops – Banana Pops are the perfect replacement for your normal unhealthy ice cream bars. Just unpeel your bananas and cut them in half. Take your popsicle sticks and stick them in the cut end of the banana. Then, you will want to place them in the refrigerator for an hour.

After that you can pull them out and add on your chocolate. You can use dark chocolate to keep it healthy! Try adding on different nuts, coconut or even a few sprinkles to add on some extra flavor and color. Your children are guaranteed to go bananas for these pops!

PureFUN! Juice Pops – Take your juice to the next level by creating PureFUN! Juice Pops! You will need to start by setting up your cups. You can use whatever size you think would make the right serving for your children. Now you can take the PureFUN! Juice flavor of your choice and pour it into each cup. Once each cup has been filled, cover the tops of the cups with aluminum foil and punch a popsicle stick through the top of each one. Place the pops in the freezer and wait for them to freeze. Now you have the perfect summer treat that can be changed to a variety of different flavors!

Try adding fresh fruit to your cups before adding the juice to give your popsicles a little something extra!

Watermelon Pops – This is probably the most simple option of our favorites. You will need to go ahead and cut up a watermelon into slices. Then take a few cookie cutters in fun shapes and cut out of the watermelon slices with them. After you have all of your shapes cut out, stick a lollipop stick into the bottom. Now you have a quick and simple treat for students to enjoy! They will love seeing all the different shapes used. This is perfect for getting little ones to choose a healthier option too!

Healthy Holiday Snacks: Christmas

Holiday snacks are always fun for little ones to eat and create! We want to share with you a few ideas we found that will be perfect snacks for the holidays but also healthy choices for your growing students.
You can prepare the items for your students to make each snack or have them ready to go for them depending on time and age of your students.

Christmas Tree

Items needed: Celery, Carrots, Sliced Meat, Pineapple, Plates
Begin by forming your tree. To create the Christmas Tree shape we are going to zigzag our celery. Next take your choice of sliced meat (ham, turkey, bologna) and fold it to represent the trunk. Lastly, you will need sliced carrots to place around the tree for the ornaments and a star cut out of pineapple to make the star for the top of the tree.

Candy Cane

Items Needed: Bananas, Strawberries, Peanut Butter or Nutella
This one is super simple but turns out really cute! Go ahead and cut up your bananas and strawberries. Then take your peanut butter or Nutella and spread it onto the plate into a candy cane shape. Then have the students alternate from banana to strawberry to make the candy cane. This is the perfect snack for practicing patterns!

Santa

Items Needed: Bananas, Large Marshmallows, Mini Marshmallows, Strawberries, Dark Chocolate, Red M&Ms, Peanut Butter or Nutella (optional)
You will need to do a little prep for this one. Grab your knife and cut the large marshmallow in half. Then you will need to cut the banana into slices and cut the bottom off the strawberry to make it resemble a triangle shape. You can use your Peanut Butter, Nutella, or even your dark chocolate here to stick your base together. From bottom to top, it should stack marshmallow, banana, marshmallow then strawberry. Now to add the finishing touches take your dark chocolate and add the eyes and “glue” for the nose and hat topper. Next you can stick on your red M&M for the nose and mini marshmallow on top of the hat.

You of course need a healthy drink to go with your healthy holiday snacks! Be sure to check out our 100% Juice. Choose from 22 delicious flavors that you and your little ones will love. We even have a selection of colored choices to go with the holiday spirit.