* Playing Doctor Let the children dress up in white shirts or smocks and take turns playing doctor/patient. You could bring out a shoebox filled with different supplies, bandages, popsicle sticks for tongue depressors, emply ballpoint pen for pretned needles, etc) You could discuss why it is important to see the doctor regularly. Ask if anyone knows how to use a stethoscope and ask if they know what a heartbeat is. If they put their hands over their heart they might be able to feel it beating. You could show them how to take a pulse on their wrists and on their neck. * Making Toothpaste Materials * 4 tsp. baking soda *1 tsp. salt *1 tsp flavoring(vanilla, almond or peppermint Extract) *toothbrush *floss *air-tight containers You could discuss the difference between baby teeth and permanent teeth. Discuss how it feels to lose a tooth. Other children might be able to tell you about caring for their teeth, you can emphasize: * teeth should be brushed in the morning and before beed *teeth should be brushed after meals when you can *flossing is important, too *sweet and sticky foods need to be rinsed or brushed off as soon as possible. Can the children tell you the kinds of foods that are good for their teeth? What are good breakfast foods? What are good snacks? Make a "good food" for their teeth collage out of pictures from magazines. They might even want to hang them on their own refrigerator to remind them which foods are healthy. You could make a batch of toothpaste together.The children could use the home-made toothpaste for brushing their teeth after luch or snack time. A great book is "The Tooth Book by Dr. Seuss * Magic exercises Discuss the importance of exercise and a healthy body. Let the children suggest what kind of exercises to do. * standing on their toes * clapping both hands over their heads *standing on one foot * wishing hard * clapping both hands behind their backs * waving a magic wand Put the exercised toghether to make a simple routine. See if the children can repeat them several times. * Check out the chef combo site .I have this program and I love it. http://www.chefcombo.com * When talking about teeth, try this idea. Cut out a large tooth shape from yellow construction paper for each child. Have the children pretend they are brushing this dirty yellow tooth by painting with white paint on toothbrushes--brush the tooth! Cute idea that the children really enjoy! * I have a large Food Pyramid poster and a Food Pyramid puzzle that I got free from the Meat Board of Illinois. (2yrs ago) On the back it says......For catalogs listing other free or inexpensive nutrition education materials available from the Meat Board call 1-800-368-3138 (outside Illinois 312-670-9440 or 312-670-9441 (within Illinois) (Pre-school-Gr.8) * Activity Fishing for Good Foods Children can cut pictures from magazines (or for the little ones I have them already cut) from the five basic food groups. Have the children glue these pictures onto a fish shape cut from contrution paper. Slip a paper clip onto the front of ea fish. Make a fishing pole from a dowel and tie a magnet onto the end of the string. Label five small buckets with the name/picture of ea food group. Have the children try to catch a fish and encourage them to decide which group the food belongs to and then put the fish in the correct bucket. * Songs & poems: Category: Me Title: The Shape-Up Song Sung to 'Farmer in the Dell' We're jumping up and down We're jumping up and down We're getting lots of exercise We're jumping up and down. We bend and touch our toes..... We kick our legs up high...... We jog around the room....... We wiggle our whole body.... We stretch up to the sky....... Basic Food Groups Here are the food groups: Dairy, bread, and meat; And don't forest that vegetables Are important for you to eat. Have a food from each food group Each and every day, And you'll grow strong and healthy - Good nutrition is the way! Food & food prep: Fruit Plate (lunch or snack) Give each child a paper plate and sliced fruit. Ask them to create themselves using the slices of fruit. Example; grapes for eyes, sliced apple for eye brows, banana sliced lengthwise for a mouth and a kiwi slice for a nose. This presents an ideal time to disucss the importance of eating well to maintain healthy bodies. When their creation is finished they may eat the fruit plate for snack! Language: Vegetables Questioning: I want to eat this vegetable. What do you think I should do to prepare it? If I want to cut it, what should I use? (hide the pepper) Do you remember what colour the pepper is? What parts of the pepper do you think we can eat? What parts can't we eat? Can you think of any vegetables with seeds we can eat? Can you think of any vegetables with skins we can't eat? If we all wanted to taste a piece, how many pieces would we need? How is this pepper (red) different from this pepper (green)? How is this pepper different from a carrot/potato? How does it taste? What are some of the ways we can eat peppers? (use other kinds of foods) Art: Paper Plate Meals Have the children look through magazines to find pictures of different kinds of foods. Then have them cut out the pictures and glue them onto paper plates to make 'breakfasts', 'lunches' or 'dinners'. Science: Separating Solids Mix one cup of beans, one cup of salt and one cup of rice together in a bowl. Provide the children with a strainer and a colander and tell them to separate the items in the bowl into three separate bowls--one with beans, one with salt and one with rice. After the children are successful. ask them if they can think of another way to accomplish the task. Art: Pizza Collage Materials Needed: Round piece of tagboard Glue Red tempera paint, Yellow & white Easter grass or yarn, scraps green, red, and black felt , brown scraps of paper Procedure: 1. Mix red tempera with glue. Let children paint tagboard with red glue. 2. Tear brown scraps of paper and crumple them. Stick them to tagboard (sausage). Use green felt (peppers); red felt (tomatoes); black felt (olives); Easter grass or yarn (cheese). 3. Presto -- pizza! Sensory: Taste Testing Various food items Blindfold Cut up and clean various food items. Blindfold your child and have him/her taste and smell different foods. Have him/her describe the various tates, smells and textures before they guess what it is. Food Melon Bowl Watermelon & Various other melons Knife Melon ball scoop or small ice cream scoop Adult cuts a watermelon in half. Have kids scoop out the inside using an ice cream scoop or melon baller. Cut open other melons and have kids make balls with the melon ball scoop from the other melons. Fill the watermelon with balls from the various melons. This makes a great summer snack or dessert. Food Happy Face Sandwiches Bread Peanut butter Raisins Alfalfa or bean sprouts Squeezable cheese Other small food items Spread peanut butter on one side of bread - openfaced. Have child make eyes, nose, mouth and hair from other items provided. Encourage kids to be creative and eat what they create. Sensory: Flour or salt  Baking sheet Flour or salt Sprink flour or salt over a baking sheet. Show your child you can draw in the flour with your finger. Draw letters, numbers, shapes. Play hangman or other common games in the flour. Draw initials of favorite videos or movies and have child guess them. Pudding Paint Pudding   Adult prepares pudding ahead of time or has children help make if instant. Allow child to fingerpaint with the pudding on a plastic lined paper or waxed paper. Clean up is fun because it is edible.   Plastic storage container plastic utensils Science: Root-Top Garden Any raw root vegetable (carrot, turnip, parsnip, beet) Knife Large dish or shallow platter Clean pebbles If the vegetable has leaves trim them. Lave about 1/4 inch stem. Slice off about 1 inch from the base of the stem. Put root tops in platter with enough water to just cover the bottom, not over the top. Fill the spaces with clean pebbles. Put in a sunny windowsill. In two or three weeks you should have a leafy garden. Keep it well watered. Hanging Carrot Garden Large carrot Knife Absorbent cotton Water Dish Wooden skewer Potato peeler Thread Cut a section about 2 inches from the top of the carrot. Leave any leaves or stalks attached. Stand the cut end in a dish of water on top of the absorbant cotton. Once shoots have sprouted, remove and scoop a hollow bowl into the end of he carrot using a potato peeler. Push the wooden skewer through the top half of the carrot. Tie the same size length of thread for each side of the skewer. Hang the carrot up in a sunny window and fill the inside "bowl" with water. The shoots will grow up to the light, and you will soon have a hanging garden! Home Made Soda Ingredients Fruit Juice Club Soda . Method Get the fizz without the sugar! Fill a glass 2/3 full with your favorite fruit juice (apple, orange, cranberry, grape). Add club soda and stir briefly. For variety mix two or more fruit juices before adding soda.