In an effort to create awareness about health initiatives across all subject areas, Tarkington’s art teacher Vanessa Hoff teamed up with Coach Noah to deliver health lessons on the Five Food Groups through art. Students identified their favorites from each of the 5 Food Groups and created posters to showcase their creativity around the entire school.
Most of Tarkington’s students already knew what their favorite fruits and vegetables were and easily identified examples of each. Strawberries, mangos, raspberries and watermelon were some of their favorite fruits that they yelled out. For most of the students, it was either a new or good refresher to talk about the importance of eating the right amount of proteins, grains and dairy. The lesson emphasized on the words "variety" and balance" as the goal for understanding the proper food group consumption.
Ms. Hoff then gave each student poster paper along with a few boxes full of colored scraps of paper. Students exercised their fine motor skills to cut, glue and draw the informational and creative posters together, that illustrated their favorite foods from each group. Most students cut out a plate and began filling it up with tasty and healthy choices, just like real chefs! Coach Noah and Ms. Hoff roamed the classroom quizzing the kids on each food group and challenged them to put together the most colorful plate of food.
Students’ posters are displayed all over the school now, for everyone to see! With these posters as reminders, kids can think about what healthy choices they’re making every day (like during school lunch!) Shortly after lunch period a group of excited third graders explained “Coach Noah! Today we ate all five food groups for lunch! We had rice, which are grains and nuggets which are protein. And we also had milk as dairy!” Ms. Hoff also commented on how excited the kids were to work on the posters and create a work of art that educated others on the importance of eating right.
