Captain 5-a-day for educator – Curriculum
Captain 5-A-Day audio program
4. At Home
Dear Parent,
Welcome to the World of Captain 5 A Day's Adventures. The tape you are about to play with your child combines learning about fruits and vegetables with physical activity. Eating more fruits and vegetables and physical activity will help keep your family healthy and at a proper weight. Staying at a proper weight helps prevent many illnesses.
The fruits and vegetables in the tape are: carrots, broccoli, spinach, oranges, and grapes. If you have any pictures of these foods or the actual foods, you can show them to your child before
and during the tape. Pictures may be found on the labels of cans or in magazines.
Before you start, make some space in the room so you and your child can move around. Turn on the tape and have fun.
After the tape is finished, ask you child: How many servings of fruits and vegetables shoud you eat every day? Which fruits and vegetables did Captain 5 A Day talk about?
When you serve fruits and vegetables, remind your child that Captain 5 A Day says you n eed to eat 5 A Day to be strong and healthy.
From,
Captain 5 A Day
At school, we provide exercise and nutritious food to keep your child healthy. Today, we had a very special activity that combined both exercise and nutrition. Ask your child, "What does Captain 5 A Day's name mean?" Here's an exercise and a nutritious snack for home.
Exercise
With your child, turn on some music with a good beat and dance.
Snack
Make carrot salad
2 cups raw carrots, shredded
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup mayonnaise (low fat)
Combine all ingredients. Your child can help mix.
Serving size for: 1-3 year-olds is 2-3 tablespoons; 4-6 year-olds is 1/3 cup
From,
Captain 5 A Day
Dear Parent,
One of the ways children stay strong is to be physically active. Today, your child pretended to be a strong broccoli stalk with Captain 5 A Day. Ask your child to show you how to walk like a broccoli stalk. Here's an exercise and a snack idea for home.
Exercise
Using a soft foam ball or frisbee, play catch together.
Snack
Together, make broccoli & cheese pitas.
Use medium pitas, fresh broccoli, sliced or shredded cheese- like American, provolone, swiss, mozzarella.
Cut pitas in half.
Wash broccoli and cut off florettes.
Fill each pita half with broccoli florettes.
Add 1 slice cheese. Option: heat to melt cheese.
Serving size for 1-3 year-olds is a 1/2 pita, 2-3 tablespoons broccoli, 1 slice of cheese equals 1/2 ounce. Serving size for 4-6 year-olds is 1 pita, 1/3 cup broccoli, 2 slices of cheese or 1 ounce.
Dear Parent,
Captain 5 A Day visited us today. We swayed in the breeze like spinach leaves. Here is an exercise and a snack idea for home.
Exercise
Walk together up and down the stairs.
Count how many times you can do this.
Snack
Make steamed greens
1 package fresh spinach
1 small head of cabbage
Wash spinach and cabbage. Cut up cabbage. Put together in a big pot. Add water (not too much, though). Cook until spinach wilts and cabbage softens. Tastes great!
A serving size for 1-3 year-olds is 2-3 tablespoons, 4-6 year-olds is 1/3 cup.
From,
Captain 5 A Day
Dear Parent,
Everyone needs Vitamin C. It helps protect against cancer, may protect lungs against pollutants, and may lessen the symptoms of a cold. Every day you need to have foods high in Vitamin C to protect your body. Captain 5 A Day suggests eating oranges- a great source of Vitamin C. Captain 5 A Day had your child pretend to be an orange today. Here's an exercise and a recipe to try at home.
Exercise
Jump for joy.
How many times can you jump without stopping?
Snack
Make orange & grape pops:
- 100% orange juice
- Washed seedless grapes, cut in half
- 5 oz. paper cups
- Plastic spoon (small)
Fill 5 oz. paper cup 3/4 full with orange juice. Freeze until partly solid and then add seedless grapes and a plastic spoon. The spoon will be the stick. Freeze completely.
Serving size for 1-3 year-olds is 1/3 cup orange juice, 4-6 year-olds is 1/2 cup.
From,
Captain 5 A Day
Dear Parent,
Captain 5 A Day taught the children how to twist and turn like grape vines. Being flexible is good for the body! Eating fruits and vegetables is good for the body, too. Here's an exercise and a snack idea for home.
Exercise
Together do some stretching. Touch your toes. (Try not to bend your legs.) Put your right hand on your left shoulder and your left hand on your right shoulder and hug yourself, then hug each other.
Snack
Make frozen grape pops:
- 1 can grape or grape & fruit blend juice (100% juice)
- Bunch of fresh seedless grapes- washed
- Plastic spoons
- Paper cups
Pour juice into cup. Put in freezer until partly frozen.
Take out of freezer and add a few grapes and the spoon.
Freeze until solid. The spoon will be the stick.
Serving size for 1-3 year-olds is 1/4 - 1/3 cup, 4-6 year-olds is 1/2 cup.
From,
Captain 5 A Day
Dear Parent,
Today, we tried _____________________________.
We have been having fun with food in our class. We've been learning about fruits and vegetables to keep our bodies healthy, strong and growing. Captain 5 A Day visited our class and said that it is important to have a total of 5 servings of fruits and vegetables to get the things we need to grow well and stay strong.
As part of the Captain 5 A Day program, we have been tasting some new foods. Ask your child about the food adventure so you can have fun with 5 A Day too.
To go along with our focus on 5 A Day, we encourage you to include a fruit and/or vegetable as part of the food you provide in school for parties, holidays or other occasions. We are trying to get the children to eat fruits and vegetables all the time, not just during a nutrition lesson.
From,
Your Teacher
Dear Parent,
Captain 5 A Day has been taking our preschool class on a fruit and vegetable adventure. The children have been learning to eat 5 A Day- 5 fruits and vegetables every day.
Get kdis started in the morning with a glass of fruit juice and a portion of fruit. Mis up the variety, use fruits over cereals, or as a fast food in the car. By the time your child gets to school, 2 of the 5 servings will have been eaten! A healthy way to begin the day.
From,
Captain 5 A Day
Dear Parent,
Captain 5 A Day invites all children to make choices. We adults must help them make healthy ones. At the grocery store, give your child a choice of two or three fruits or vegetables to buy. At home, ask, "How do you want this made- cooked or cut up raw?"
Look in your refrigerator and cupboards. Are the foods you want your child to eat easy to see and easy to reach?
Young children have small stomachs so they need to eat plenty of healthy foods often. Fruits and vegetables make happy, healthy snacks.
From,
Captain 5 A Day
Dear Parent,
Captain 5 A Day encourages all children to be cooks. Everyone is more likely to eat something they help to make, so let your child help you cook.
Remember to consider safety, use plastic knives and be careful near hot items.
Children may make a little more mess, and they may take a little more time to shred those carrots, or apples, but when you see them eating a new food, you know it's worth it.
Children, like adults, may nibble during preparation. That's okay. Even if htey don't eat the finished product, they will already have tasted the spinach or broccoli during cooking.
Children can wash, dry and shred salad greens, slice bananas for a fruit salad and other easy tasks.
From,
Captain 5 A Day
Dear Parent,
Your child doesn't like vegetables? Captain 5 A Day suggests adding them to favorite items.
Let your child slice, chop or grate items to add to your family's favorite foods. Put carrots in spaghetti sauce. Add chopped cabbage to canned vegetable soup. Add celery and onions to beans, meatload or rice. Every spoonful of vegetables helps towards reaching the goal of 5 A Day. Enjoy healthy eating!
From,
Captain 5 A Day
We eat with our eyes, so the rainbow of colors of fruits and vegetables make meals more inviting and fun. Children love shpaes and puzzles, so let your imagination run wild. Arrange food shapes on the plate to get a child's attention. Put long foods next to round ones and orange next to brown. Bright colors and interesting shpaes encourage eating.
From,
Captain 5 A Day
It's warm outside and you're looking for something cold to serve the kids. Captain 5 A Day has some suggestions.
*Freeze bunches of grapes (wash first) and serve them frozen. Do not give to infants or toddlers who could choke.
*Make frozen fruit pops using 100% fruit juice. Put juice in small paper cups. Peel paper away to eat.
*Freeze peeled bananas and eat frozen.
*Freeze fuit cocktail in paper cups.
From,
Captain 5 A Day