Additional Activities

These activities offer options for continuing the learning in this unit. Whether your curriculum is skill-based or more open-ended, select the activities that are most appropriate for the children in your classroom. The Writing Spot is primarily a writing program, but writing can be integrated throughout your curriculum—in art, drama, reading, math, and science.

• Establish a just-for-kids restaurant.

In the dramatic-play area, have children name their restaurant and make a sign for it. (See "We make signs and labels" for ideas about signs.) They can also make a menu board, pictures, and other signs to display in their restaurant.

• Make fun food books.

Have children draw or find pictures containing different foods that begin with their initials. For example, apples for Amanda; spinach for Smith (last names can also be used). Students may cut pictures out of newspapers and magazines or draw their own. Put the pages together as a book.

• Share some songs or poems about exercise.

Do a shared writing after reading a song or poem that celebrates exercise. To begin, choose a familiar tune such as “London Bridge” or “Mary Had a Little Lamb”; then compose your first line—such as “Playing tag is good for us.” Go on from there.

• Make seed-catalog posters.

Children love to plant seeds and watch them grow. Show them some seed catalogs. Use a seed-planting activity as a springboard for learning about foods that grow from seeds. Talk about different kinds of fruits and vegetables. Bring a variety of fruits and vegetables to class; cut them open so children can see the seeds. List all the names on the board or on chart paper. Invite children to draw their favorite fruit or vegetable (and its seeds) and write its name. Use "Seed Poster" for this activity.

• Plan a meal of food that comes from animals.

Many children don’t know that eggs and dairy products come from animals. Talk about cows, chickens, and goats. Explain that if it weren’t for these animals, we wouldn’t have milk, cheese, or eggs. Where do these foods fit on the food pyramid? Discuss ways that dairy products and eggs are served: chocolate milk, ice cream, scrambled eggs, grilled cheese sandwiches. Have children create a breakfast menu using foods that come from animals. You could use "A Plate of Food" for this activity.

• Learn about food that comes from trees.

If possible, visit a local orchard. Talk with children about fruits that grow on trees: cherries, apples, peaches, lemons, bananas. Where does fruit fit in a healthful diet? Make a fruit salad together. Have children draw pictures of different kinds of fruit and label them.

• Explore foods that grow underground.

Talk about root crops: carrots, potatoes, onions, radishes. Make a list of the different ways potatoes are prepared: mashed, baked, boiled, hash browns, French fries, pancakes, potato soup. Have children draw their favorite way to eat potatoes and write one sentence about why they like potatoes that way.

• Track your daily exercise.

Ask students what exercise they have done today. Remind them that walking, running, jumping, skipping, and hopping all are exercise. Also, remind them that games like tag, kickball, and hopscotch also are exercise. Discuss what parts of the body are made stronger by each kind of exercise. Have each student list the types of exercise they have already done today. Then have each student list the types of exercise they would still like to do today.

• Practice good table manners.

Discuss table manners. As a shared-writing activity, make a list of good table manners. Have a pretend grown-up dinner party. Set the tables with paper plates, paper cups, paper napkins, and plastic utensils. Allow children to role-play as grown-ups, using their very best table manners.

• Plan menus for special times.

Some foods are associated with special times, parties, or holidays. Encourage children to plan menus for birthday parties, picnics, sleepovers, and for sledding or snow-fort-building get-togethers. Talk about how different foods fit certain situations. For example, which menus call for lemonade? Which call for hot cocoa?