Resources for Teachers
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Fun Classroom Projects
Learn to Eat More Whole Foods
The general rule of thumb is to eat healthier we need to eat less processed foods and more natural whole foods. Nutritionist recommend that we try to eat as many foods that have seven or less ingredients.
Classroom Project
Conduct a classroom experiment of researching what is in the foods your students are eating (fast food & meals) then challenge them to find foods with seven or less ingredients
Set the Table
Studies have shown that eating foods in a designated area at a set time helps regulate eating habits and control eating. Those who eat while watching tv or while doing other activities have shown to consumer 300 to 500 more calories than those who focus on eating in a designated area.
Classroom Project
Conduct a classroom experiment and have kids log the food they eat in their normal routine and then have them eat at the table and log their food. Have a classroom discussion about the difference.
Drink Responsibly
Sweetened beverages constitute for more than half of the fluids consumed by fourth through sixth grade students. Which totals to an extra 330 calories a day.
Classroom Project
Conduct a classroom experiment and have students log the foods that they eat in a week including beverages. Then calculate the percentage of daily calories from drinks alone.
Kick the Sugar Habit
These days high fructose corn syrup can be found in almost everything. Compared to 1977, Americans consume 132 calories more of high fructose corn syrup a day.
Classroom Project
Challenge your student to look in their cupboards at their regular snack items and find three that do not have high fructose corn syrup. Have a discussion about what is on everyone's list.
Eat the Rainbow
Foods that are great for us have a natural source of color. Eating fruits and vegetables that are dark in color are the best for our bodies.
Classroom Project
Have a discussion in your classroom of the vegetables and fruits that everyone eats and what are their favorites. Use a downloadable nutrition guide to talk about the benefits of each color.
Exercises for the Classroom
Energy Breaks
A short fitness break of three to four minutes can get the blood pumping again, relieve boredom, reduce tension and increase your students' level of alertness. The result will be better learning by students and a better teaching experience for you. While it is not time spent on-task, it will make your students more able to learn, so it is definitely worthwhile.
Music
Some of the best energy breaks are performed to music, using on-the-spot aerobics movements designed to move the limbs and get the blood flowing. Be sure to have a tape full of 3-4 minute songs suitable for such a routine. A good tempo for such songs is 20-24 beats in a 10-second time span. The exercises you select should be appropriate for a teacher and students wearing typical classroom clothing.
Office Worker Routines
This is also a good opportunity to introduce exercises your students can use once they are in the work world and stuck at a desk all day. Such exercises include wrist rotations, shoulder shrugs, heel lifts, neck movements and the soldier press, all of which can be performed while seated.
Sample Energy Break Movements
Here are some sample movements you could use in your routine:
- High knee marching.
- Jogging lightly on the spot.
- Race walking on the spot.
- Arm rotations, forward and back.
- Skip rope movements and variations such as crossovers, and backwards arm rotations.
- Swimming movements with the arms, mimicking different strokes.
- Throwing movements.
- Jump shot movements.
- Various dance step variations: sideways steps, forward steps, backwards steps
- Touching various body parts: head, shoulders, hips, knees, shins, toes
Sleepy Starfish
Lie down on your back with your legs and arms apart. Stay very still and imagine you are a sleepy starfish resting at the bottom of the ocean. Breathe in and as you breathe out relax you arms. Breathe in and as you breathe out relax your legs, breathe in and as you breathe out relax your head. See how still you can be at the bottom of the ocean, resting like a sleepy starfish. Repeat to yourself I am silent, I am silent...
Big Balloon
Close your eyes, be very still and imagine that you are holding a big balloon. It is very light. It feels very smooth. The balloon is in your favorite color. Now hold the bottom of your balloon, and feel the balloon gently rising into the sky. Each time you breathe in and out, you gently glide further and further into the warm summer sky. The deeper your breath is, the further you can travel. Enjoy this feeling of weightlessness. Enjoy the feeling of being completely free. Your body feels weightless and free and your mind feels totally free.
Elastic Band
Close your eyes, be very still and imagine your body is a piece of elastic. Just relax to start with and enjoy being a floppy piece of elastic. Allow your legs to be floppy and relaxed, let you arms be floppy and relaxed, let your stomach be floppy and relaxed and finally, let you neck and head be floppy and relaxed. Now very slowly imagine someone is very gently tugging your head and someone else is pulling your feet at the same time. And the elastic is becoming tighter. Your muscles are becoming more taut. Your whole body is getting longer and longer. Enjoy this wonderful stretching feeling as you are growing longer. Then ... ping....let all the muscles in your body relax as the elastic band is released. Relax back to being a floppy bendy piece of elastic again. Enjoy this wonderful feeling of being totally relaxed and floppy.
Squeeze and Relax
Take in a deep breath and as you breathe in, squeeze all the muscles in you body. Now, breathe out and relax all the muscles in your body. Repeat this exercise 2 or 3 times...
Jumping Jacks Waterfall
Get students out of their seats, and get their juices flowing with a jumping jack waterfall. Gather students into a circle, ensuring that each student has enough room to complete a jumping jack. Tell students that they are going to work together to accomplish an exciting task. Explain to students that they are going to create a jumping jack waterfall. To create this awesome effect, select a starting point in the circle. The student at the starting point completes one jumping jack. As the student completes the jumping jack, all students join in with counting "one." The student to right of the first student then does two jumping jacks, students again count the jumps. The jumping jacks continue in this fashion moving around the circle with each person doing one additional jumping jack, until it gets back to the start of the circle. Congratulate students for their success when they accomplish the task.
Interactive Story
Instead of just listening to a story, students can join in the fun through the creation of an interactive story. Select a story that has lots of movement, or invent your own. Before you start the story, explain to students that they are going to act out the movements in the story. Practice these actions with students, showing them how to run in place, pretend to swim and any other relevant action.
Ask students to stand, then start the story. As you read, pause when you announce an action, and allow the students to begin imitating the action described. Students will be more engaged, because they will have to listen actively to determine what they are being ask to do. They will also be out of their seats, so they will be less likely to doze off or lose focus.
Download the Full Teacher Presentation
Obesity Prevention - Movement & Nutrition in the Classroom
