INSTRUCTOR BACKGROUND:

Fruits provide the body with essential nutrients like carbohydrates, fiber, folic acid, vitamin A, vitamin C, potassium and phytochemicals. The combination of these nutrients gives the body energy, encourages healthy eyes and skin, and aids in healing cuts and bruises. An overall healthy diet, including fruits and vegetables, encourages the following long-term benefits, reduced risk for stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, certain cancers, reduced risk of developing kidney stones and may help to decrease bone loss. Fruit is a fantastic addition to meals and also makes a super snack!

Discussion Talking Points:

🍎 Just like vegetables, fruits contain powerful nutrients that keep our bodies healthy.

🍎🍊🍋🍇🥝 There are tons to choose from, and they come in a rainbow of colors!

🍊 Fruits make an awesome snack because they are naturally sweet and also contain lots of vitamins.

🍋 Eating a variety of fruits and vegetables over time is what helps to keep our bodies healthy by giving our bodies what it needs to fight off sickness.

🍊 We can get the nutrients from fruit in so many different ways - fruits can be fresh, frozen, or canned.

🥝 Eating whole fruits gives our bodies extra nutrients that we can’t get just from drinking its juice. Also, eating the whole fruit provides extra fiber that keeps you full longer and your stomach healthy.

🍇 When we chew fruit instead of drinking it, it also takes up more room in our belly so we can feel full after eating. Juice can leave us hungry for more food.


Single Activity:

Step 1: In the slideshow you will find 5 color categories of fruit! 🍎🍊🍋🍇🥝

Step 2: Request kids to list out different fruits for each color category.

Examples:
🍎 Red: apples, strawberries, raspberries, watermelon, cherries, red grapes

🍊 Orange/Yellow: oranges, cantaloupe, nectarines, peaches, tangerines, mangoes, papaya, grapefruit

🍋 White: bananas, pineapple, pears, lemons

🥝 Green: kiwi, grapes, green apples, limes, avocado

🍇 Blue/Purple: blueberries, purple grapes, plums, raisins


Discussion:

How many fruits do totally cool kids need?

Answer:
Children 6-8 years old need 1 – 2 cups per day.
Children 9-12 years old need 1 1/2 – 2 cups per day.

Visual:
Using measuring cups show children how many fruits they need each day. You can use frozen, fresh, or canned fruits.

Discussion:
Explain that eating 1/2 cup of fruit at breakfast and 1/2 cup at both lunch and dinner can help them meet their needs. Fruit also makes a super snack!

Note: 1 cup of fruit or 8 ounces of 100% fruit juice or 1/2 cup of dried fruit is considered 1 cup from the fruit group.

To get the most fiber, encourage children to eat whole fruit over drinking fruit juice.