Nutrition & Health Week (1st week November)

November is Nutrition and Health Month so we will use this week to focus on how to be healthy and proper nutrition.

 

ALL ABOUT ME!

SCIENCE -  Body Parts 

In circle time, have the children stand up. Begin by asking the children about their bodies. Where is your nose? Where is your tummy? Go through all the big major body parts. Next begin to ask them where the body part is that they eat with? Where is the body part that they walk on? Have them point and make it fun!

 

MUSIC - Head, shoulders, knees and toes!
As you sing this, point at each of the body parts. It is an educational and physical song.

Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes

Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes

My eyes, my ears, my mouth my nose

Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes!

PHYSICAL FITNESS

MATH - Physical Fitness Math Game

Fitness and math concepts can be combined during this simple and fun game for preschoolers:

1. Gather flash cards printed with the numbers 1 through 10, and shuffle them into a pile.
2. Allow the children to take turns drawing a number from the pile. Ask each child to name the number out loud, and then perform a corresponding number of short exercises. For example, if a student draws the number 6, say, "Touch your toes six times". Suggestions for exercises can include walking in a circle around a chair, doing jumping jacks, or hopping up and down.

GROSS MOTOR - Obstacle Course

Set up an obstacle course outside or in a large room. Use tape on the floor to make a balance beam. Place pillows to jump over.  Set up chairs they have to crawl under. Make a crepe paper section that they can tear through if not careful. Make it fun, but keep it safe. Make it a race. Or tell them if they can make it through without falling down or knocking any obstacles over they win a prize like a sticker.

 

NUTRITION - Food Plate (the new food pyramid)







Discuss the food groups. Fruits are strawberries, bananas, apples, oranges, pears.  Vegetables are green beans, carrots, spinach, broccoli.  Grains are cereals, breads, bagels, pastas.  Protein is chicken, turkey, beef, tuna.  Dairy is milk, yogurt, cheese.

Use the graphics by clicking this link: my plate graphic to print a copy of the plate. Using either pictures from magazines or play food, have the children add food items to the plate in the correct spaces. Talk about how having a balance these food groups are how we stay healthy and strong.

It is important to talk about "all the time foods" and "sometimes foods". All the time foods are those found on the My Plate or Food Pyramid. sometimes foods are those goodies that we can enjoy sometimes, such as candy, cookies, ice cream, etc. Those items are not found on the Plate because they are not full of nutrition. They are tasty, but should only be eaten as a special treat on occasion.


COMMUNITY -  Nurses

"N" is for Nurse!   Print coloring page HERE

Trace letter N's in upper and lower case with your finger as you also sound out the letter.  Invite the children to do the same on their coloring page (first presentation) or handwriting practice worksheet.   


What does a Nurse do?

Nurses, also called registered nurses or RNs, take care of sick and injured people. They give people medicine. They treat wounds. And they give emotional support to patients and their families.

Nurses ask patients about their symptoms and keep detailed records. They watch for signs that people are sick. Then, nurses help doctors examine and treat patients.

Some nurses help to give tests to find out why people are sick. Some also do lab work to get test results.

Nurses also teach people how to take care of themselves and their families. Some nurses teach people about diet and exercise and how to follow doctors' instructions. Some nurses run clinics and immunization centers.

HEALTH - Handwashing & Germs

Start your talk or circle time about germs with a great poem.

Don’t forget to give it a creepy low voice. It will really catch their attention.

Germs, Germs everywhere

Even on your teddy bear

Germs, Germs everywhere

Even where you can’t stare

Germs, Germs in our hair

But even when they’re out of

sight, they’re are so many ways

for us to fight…Germs



A Fun Demonstration on how a Cough or Sneeze Spreads.

Take a hand full of pompoms. At the end of the germ poem pretend to sneeze or cough and bring the handful of pompoms up close to your mouth. Then toss the pompoms lightly from your hand. These fun little pompoms spread out just like the germs from a sneeze or cough. A great demonstration on why we need to cover our mouth when we cough or sneeze.



How do we fight Germs? Germs are scared away with soap and water! Washing our hands will help to keep us healthy and germ free.

How to demonstrate "scaring away" those pesky Germs that may be on our hands.

Mix together some baby oil and some cinnamon. Add just enough cinnamon that you can see the small specs in the oil. Gather the children and smear a small amount of the oil mixture onto one of their hands. Have them look closely to see the "germs" in the "dirt" on them. Now, how to remove these Germs? Handwashing, of course! Discuss the proper steps for washing their hands and have each child wash their hands using these steps. Demonstrate how this action will remove the nasty Germs from their hands.