This past week we had a fun activity that the girls really loved. One of the things we talked about is taking care of our bodies. We focused on how the Faith in God manual says that they will not put anything harmful into their bodies.
I decided that I would help the girls learn more about reading food labels. This is something that I did not learn how to do until I was an adult. So, I figured it would be a great tool for them to use throughout their lives. Many adults still do not look at food labels when making their food choices, so this is something that might even motivate the girls to share with their parents.
First, I visited www.kidshealth.org and printed off the article, Figuring Out Food Labels. It is an article written for kids to teach them how to read a food label. I made each girl their own copy to take home. Next, I printed out an article, A Kids’ Guide to Eating Right so that they could take this home as well.
We started by sitting down and giving each girl a box of cereal. We went over the handout and talked about the different aspects of the food label, and had each girl tell what was on their food label. For example, I would start and talk about what calories per serving meant, and then tell how many calories per serving were in my cereal. Then, the girls each got to share what was on their own box of cereal. That way, they learned how to read the food label and find things they needed themselves.
After we talked about several aspects of the food labels, we walked to our local grocery store. Luckily, we have one that is only 2 blocks away. However, if you have a bigger group, and do not have a grocery store close, plan ahead of time to have a parent help you carpool and take the girls to a grocery store nearby. I laid down some rules before we even went in. I told them they had to be respectful of the other shoppers, no yelling, and no running. They did a great job of all three!
Then, we broke up into two teams and I gave them tasks to complete. The first one was to find the cracker that was highest in fiber. Then, we moved to the juice aisle and we had to find the juice that contained the most sugar, and the least sugar. Last, we went and looked at the breads. We had the girls try to find the bread with the most fiber, the least ingredients, and also find a bread that contained high fructose corn syrup in the first 10 ingredients.
The girls had a lot of fun, and were very excited about knowing what they were putting into their bodies. We were able to talk about both the good and the bad things found on labels, and they wanted to jog home so that they could burn more calories! You could also let each girl pick out a piece of fruit and buy it for them for good behavior.
Other Activity Days Ideas: Activity Days-Article of Faith Games