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The Fruit and Vegetable Activity Kit
Podcast available online at www.jneb.org
New Resources for Nutrition Educators
BOOK The Fruit and Vegetable Activity Kit. Storper B. 2013. FoodPlay Productions, 1 Sunset Ave, Hatfield, MA 01038. Softcover book, $29.95 ($19.95 ebook), ISBN: 978-0-9642858-7-3. The Fruit and Vegetable Activity Kit contains hands-on activities to teach nutrition through reading, writing, arithmetic, science, social studies, art, and health. For Grades K-6.—FoodPlay Productions When was the last time anyone has seen an ad for broccoli? Never! That is what the author of this resource would like educators to consider. The sad fact is that most children in the US are exposed to daily advertisements that glamorize processed food that is high in fat, salt, and sugar instead of healthier food like broccoli and apples. This kit seeks to change that and encourages educators to ‘‘stand up for fruits and vegetables.’’ JNEB readers who are aware of the improved nutrition standards for school meals that went into effect in 2012 as part of the Healthy, HungerFree Kids Act will be familiar with the requirement that more fruits and vegetables be served daily at school. This resource could help teachers promote this change and show children why fruits and vegetables are a vital part of their daily diet. In addition, many of the featured activities can be linked to the school cafeteria menu, allowing for a more interactive learning experience. The kit consists of 6 sections. The first section, ‘‘Getting to Know Fruits and Veggies,’’ contains activities to teach basic fruit and vegetable infor-
mation, which is further described in sections 2–6. The activities are targeted toward elementary school children (K–6) and can be done in sequence across several weeks or longer. Sections 2–6 feature activities that can be incorporated into existing curriculum areas. Each activity states the curriculum area with which it aligns (health, language arts, math, science, social studies, media literacy, and art) and the appropriate age level. The activities in these sections are diverse and include MyPlate, eating the colors of the rainbow, and gardening exploration. Children in the upper elementary age group will likely enjoy the ‘‘Name the Mystery Fruit/Vegetable!’’ activity, in which they will be food detectives exploring nutrients found in fruits and vegetables. Another highlight of the kit is the ‘‘Cost of Processing’’ activity, where the name of the game is to see what
happens to an apple's nutrient value and cost when it is processed into a packaged individual apple pie. Additional resources found in this book include a matrix to allow teachers to see how the activities align to meet common core standards. Several tip sheets aimed at teachers, students, and parents are also included. The tip sheets provide helpful suggestions for including more fruits and vegetables in the diet; they would be a great way to connect with parents and expand the learning to home. The major strengths of this kit are that it contains such a wide variety of engaging and interesting nutrition activities and suggestions. Since all of the activities include everything needed to plan a lesson—easy-to-follow teacher directions, key objectives, accurate nutrition background information, and all required handout masters—the kit would be quite useful for elementary school teachers looking for nutrition activities to use in their classrooms. Additionally, this resource could be valuable for anyone looking for fun nutrition education activities appropriate for elementary school–age children. Tanya R. O'Connor, MS, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, 4300 Cherry Creek Dr S, Denver, CO 80246 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jneb.2013.08.004
Cite this article as O'Connor T.R. The Fruit and Vegetable Activity Kit [New Resources for Nutrition Educators]. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2014;46:153.e3.
Inclusion of any material in this section does not imply endorsement by the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Evaluative comments contained in the reviews reflect the views of the authors. Review abstracts are either prepared by the reviewer or extracted from the product literature. Prices quoted are those provided by the publishers at the time materials were submitted. They may not be current when the review is published. Reviewers receive a complimentary copy of the resource as part of the review process. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2014;46:153.e3 Ó2014 SOCIETY FOR NUTRITION EDUCATION AND BEHAVIOR
Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior Volume 46, Number 2, 2014
153.e3
New Resources for Nutrition Educators
BOOK The Fruit and Vegetable Activity Kit. Storper B. 2013. FoodPlay Productions, 1 Sunset Ave, Hatfield, MA 01038. Softcover book, $29.95 ($19.95 ebook), ISBN: 978-0-9642858-7-3. The Fruit and Vegetable Activity Kit contains hands-on activities to teach nutrition through reading, writing, arithmetic, science, social studies, art, and health. For Grades K-6.—FoodPlay Productions When was the last time anyone has seen an ad for broccoli? Never! That is what the author of this resource would like educators to consider. The sad fact is that most children in the US are exposed to daily advertisements that glamorize processed food that is high in fat, salt, and sugar instead of healthier food like broccoli and apples. This kit seeks to change that and encourages educators to ‘‘stand up for fruits and vegetables.’’ JNEB readers who are aware of the improved nutrition standards for school meals that went into effect in 2012 as part of the Healthy, HungerFree Kids Act will be familiar with the requirement that more fruits and vegetables be served daily at school. This resource could help teachers promote this change and show children why fruits and vegetables are a vital part of their daily diet. In addition, many of the featured activities can be linked to the school cafeteria menu, allowing for a more interactive learning experience. The kit consists of 6 sections. The first section, ‘‘Getting to Know Fruits and Veggies,’’ contains activities to teach basic fruit and vegetable infor-
mation, which is further described in sections 2–6. The activities are targeted toward elementary school children (K–6) and can be done in sequence across several weeks or longer. Sections 2–6 feature activities that can be incorporated into existing curriculum areas. Each activity states the curriculum area with which it aligns (health, language arts, math, science, social studies, media literacy, and art) and the appropriate age level. The activities in these sections are diverse and include MyPlate, eating the colors of the rainbow, and gardening exploration. Children in the upper elementary age group will likely enjoy the ‘‘Name the Mystery Fruit/Vegetable!’’ activity, in which they will be food detectives exploring nutrients found in fruits and vegetables. Another highlight of the kit is the ‘‘Cost of Processing’’ activity, where the name of the game is to see what
happens to an apple's nutrient value and cost when it is processed into a packaged individual apple pie. Additional resources found in this book include a matrix to allow teachers to see how the activities align to meet common core standards. Several tip sheets aimed at teachers, students, and parents are also included. The tip sheets provide helpful suggestions for including more fruits and vegetables in the diet; they would be a great way to connect with parents and expand the learning to home. The major strengths of this kit are that it contains such a wide variety of engaging and interesting nutrition activities and suggestions. Since all of the activities include everything needed to plan a lesson—easy-to-follow teacher directions, key objectives, accurate nutrition background information, and all required handout masters—the kit would be quite useful for elementary school teachers looking for nutrition activities to use in their classrooms. Additionally, this resource could be valuable for anyone looking for fun nutrition education activities appropriate for elementary school–age children. Tanya R. O'Connor, MS, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, 4300 Cherry Creek Dr S, Denver, CO 80246 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jneb.2013.08.004
Cite this article as O'Connor T.R. The Fruit and Vegetable Activity Kit [New Resources for Nutrition Educators]. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2014;46:153.e3.
Inclusion of any material in this section does not imply endorsement by the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Evaluative comments contained in the reviews reflect the views of the authors. Review abstracts are either prepared by the reviewer or extracted from the product literature. Prices quoted are those provided by the publishers at the time materials were submitted. They may not be current when the review is published. Reviewers receive a complimentary copy of the resource as part of the review process. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2014;46:153.e3 Ó2014 SOCIETY FOR NUTRITION EDUCATION AND BEHAVIOR
Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior Volume 46, Number 2, 2014
153.e3