Teaching nutrition with live arts

Teaching nutrition with live arts

GEM NO. 34 Teaching Nutrition with Live Arts the names of some good cereals. (Pause for children's participation.) CECIL: How about some nonsugary to...

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GEM NO. 34

Teaching Nutrition with Live Arts the names of some good cereals. (Pause for children's participation.) CECIL: How about some nonsugary toppers to go on me?

Connie Auran and Joy Ranum, Tri-County District Health Department, 3265 West Girard, Englewood, Colorado 80110

We developed a group of skits, colorful costumes, patterns, and silly songs to teach children nutrition lessons . Our objective was to use the appeal of TV cartoon-type characters to teach youngsters the importance of eating a good breakfast and how to choose good snacks. We targeted breakfast and snacks because we felt children are frequently allowed food choices at these times.

Healthful Breakfast Skit Our first ten-minute skit focuses on the importance of eating a good breakfast. The skit, which features Mandy Milk and Cecil Cereal, can be presented by room mothers, teacher aides, drama students, or older elementary students (grades 5and 6). Involving older elementary students enables both groups of children to learn a valuable nutrition lesson. Here is a sample from the dialogue between Mandy and Cecil that illustrates how the skit elicits participation from the small-fry audience and encourages them to eat a healthy breakfast. Following the sample from the dialogue, there are helpful hints for making the costumes, and tips for producing the skit. MANDY: I'm Mandy Milk. CECIL: I'm Cecil Cereal. BOTH: We are great together for breakfast! !! MANDY: Hey Cecil, what kind of a nut is also a fruit? CECIL: I don't know. MANDY: A grape nut! CECIL: That's not a nut-that's a cereal, and it's a good cereal, ' cause it is not sugar coated! MANDY: But what can we add in place of sugar? CECIL: Gosh-there's lots of things. To make me more crunchy, add sunflower seeds, nuts, coconut, or wheat germ. To make me sweeter, add fresh fruit or raisins. I could even replace you with yogurt. MANDY: Oh Yeah??? (thinks a moment) Yeah - I guess you could! You really taught me a lot. Let's see if we taught those kids anything. Come on kids - call out

To make the costumes for Mandy and Cecil, you need two regular-size pillowcases, paint (either tempera or acrylic), brushes, and cardboard to insert into the pillowcases to provide a smooth working surface. We suggest that you first sketch the design on the fabric in pencil and that you make sure the consistency of the paint is thick enough so that it will not bleed. Also, do not paint below the pillowcase hemline because you will need room to tuck in the pillowcase. Finally, you will need slits for seeing. (Cut these slits for the wearer's eyes, not where the characters' eyes are located.) While you are cutting, make plenty of ventilation slits in the back of the pillowcase; pillowcases are very warm inside, and even if yours is well ventilated, you will not want to be in the costume for much more than twenty minutes. Remember, it will be difficult both to see and to walk, so plan a minimal amount of movement, use simple small quick steps, and wear comfortable shoes. Also, be-

cause it will be difficult to see, you probably will need to memorize your lines . When you are ready to put on your costume, place your arms over your head and grasp your right elbow with your left hand and your left elbow with your right hand. Then have someone pull the pillowcase over your arms and head. The pillowcase should fall loosely to your hips. (By the way, try to wear either slacks or trousers that match the pillowcase.) Finally, button or zipper a sweater or jacket around your hips, placing the sleeves in the pockets on each side, and tuck the pillowcase in at the top of the sweater. You are now transformed into either Mandy or Cecil, and you should have a very large head (from your hips up), a small body (from hips to knees), and very small legs (showing from the knees down).

Healthy Snack Costumes Cruising along with enthusiasm, a talking car sings a humorous song encouraging children to get their motor running with a better breakfast. Next a real snacking mouse gives a live introduction to the film "The Snacking Mouse" (see Note). Then education and creativity merge as

Figure 1: Mandy Milk and Cecil Cereal

JOURNAL OF NUTRITION EDUCATION

16:174B, 1984

Madame Carrot sings" I've Been Working in the Garden," to the small fry in the audience. She encourages the children to sing, frolic, and giggle their way through the lyrics. Following this activity, Vita Woman, in flowing cape and crown, swoops down with another message about good snacks that include fruits and vegetables. Finally, Mr. Junk strides menacingly across the room and flings open his cape to reveal pictures of all the current junk foods. He tries to coax his young audience into eating chips and cookies, but the audience, which has been prompted beforehand, boos and hisses him out of the room . Sometimes Mr. Junk is transformed into a magician who does magic tricks that continue to amaze and entertain the youngsters. Super Snack Hat

Snacking continues to be a popular American pastime, especially among children. The promotion of this pastime means big profits for the food and beverage industries. Hence, the electronic media continues to pump out commercial messages that encourage children to "take a break today," "be a pepper," and "eat one after another." To counter the popular television messages about snack foods, we created the snack hat as a visual teaching tool. The hat, designed to capture children's attention during nutrition programs in schools, and at clinics and health fairs, is visually appealing; it is big, bright, and unusual. And children immediately respond to it, providing the opportunity for dialogue about good nutrition. We created our hat from an inexpensive flat basket. First, we fashioned a tie for it and then filled the basket with representations of nutritious snacks - including plastic fruit and empty containers of whole wheat crackers, yogurt, granola, tuna fish, milk, cheese, and other nutritious snack foods. Even though the hat was created for children, we have found it is also a hit in places where adults gather. To draw attention to the topic of nutrition, we wore the snack hat to the national meeting of the American Public Health Association; our hat caused quite a stir there, as well as at the airport enroute to the meeting. We have also worn the snack hat to staff meetings, in-services, community classes, and professional meetings. In fact, because of our hat's popularity as a "loaner," we have had to rebuild it twice.

Figure 2: Madame Carrot

Note Available from The Polished Apple, 881 Alma Real Drive, Pacific Palisades, California 90272.

Figure 3: Super Snack Hat

JOURNAL OF NUTRITION EDUCATION

16:174c, 1984