Iowa Department of Education

You are here: Home

Nutrition Learning Tools

Team Nutrition Learning Tools

Early Childhood

Nutrition and Physical Activity Resources

These award-winning resources were developed with Team Nutrition grant funding in partnership with several agencies and organizations. Designed to be an early intervention strategy to address childhood obesity, the resources provide hands on suggestions to help childcare providers implement the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The resources were developed to make it easy to include health-enhancing components in childcare. The materials were originally designed as three sets of pocket sized cards, laminated and held together by a ring. The informal easy-to-use format was chosen to communicate, "This is easy, fun...and I can do it". While the online version will not match the original format, the content is the same.

Physical Activities and Healthy Snacks for Young Children is a set of cards developed for caregivers that give specific ideas for nearly 50 physical activities and healthy snacks. Each snack card has a coordinated snack menu with serving sizes listed for a CACFP preschool snack. The snack cards include a suggested literacy connection for each recipe. There are corresponding physical activity ideas with directions that include a formation diagram, description to help set up the activity, instructions on how to play, a plan for use and age expectations for the activity.

Physical Activities and Healthy Snacks for Young Children

Setting the Stage, Nutrition and Physical Activity Lessons for Early Childhood Settings are lesson plans that include use of the activity cards and appropriate, effective use of television. They incorporate Team Nutrition messages into learning centers, the format most often used in early childhood education. The set includes four lessons each with a variety of activities. Lesson include: Food, Physical Activity and My Body; Food, Physical Activity and My Family; Food, Physical Activity and My Community; and Food, Physical Activity and My World.

Setting the Stage, Nutrition and Physical Activity Lessons

Setting the Stage, Policies and Best Practices for Nutrition and Physical Activity in Early Childhood Settings is an adaptation of Changing the Scene, a resource developed by USDA to help improve nutrition environments in schools, to early childhood settings. It includes a self-assessment checklist to help providers identify what they are doing well and areas for improvement. In addition, the resource includes suggested policies and best practices to promote a healthy nutrition and physical activity environment in the early childhood setting.

Setting the Stage, Policies and Best Practices

Setting the Stage: Nutrition and Physical Activity Lessons for Child Development Homes These lessons are intended to offer suggested nutrition activities in the early childhood setting, with special interest for child development homes. The cards were developed to supplement the other Early Childhood Card sets on this page. The cards include lessons on vitamin A, vitamin C, whole grains, calcium and iron. The goal is that children ages 3-5 will begin to understand the need for eating a diet rich in variety and that eating these nutrients can help lead to a long and healthy life.

Setting the Stage: Nutrition and Physical Activity Lessons for Child Development Homes

Summary and Resources from Previous Workshops

Physical Activity and the Media

The Iowa Department of Education, as part of USDA Team Nutrition Grant, is offering workshops in conjunction with the Iowa Public Television over the Iowa Communications Network. These sessions aim to provide upper elementary/middle school teachers and/or school nurses with the skills and resources needed to help students become critical consumers of mass media messages regarding nutrition and physical activity.

This file contains the basic content and information but has been edited to make download times shorter. It does not contain some pictures referenced or video used during the training.

Physical Activity and the Media

Nutrition, Physical Activity, and the Mass Media - Fall 2003 ICN Workshop

How Students Can Interpret Nutrition Messages in the Media

Teach Your Kids About Food Advertising and Marketing

Teach Kids About Advertising

Tuning In to Food Advertising and Marketing

Be A Food TV Reviewer

Parent's Guide

Parents Guide

Kidnetic.com

Nutrition, Physical Activity and the Mass Media

Dietary Guidelines