MyPlate Activity Ideas

Here are some fun ideas to teach MyPlate:

MyPlate Commercial: (Adults) Review the health benefits of MyPlate. Have participants form small groups and improvise commercials for MyPlate, highlighting its impact on diet, disease risk, and general health.

Variation for kids: As a group, devise a script for a MyPlate commercial and have volunteers act it out.

MyPlate Poll: (Adults) Poll the group. Who has balanced his/her plate like MyPlate for at least one meal? More than one meal? Discuss how it went — what was easy, what was hard, etc.

Variation for kids: Hand stickers to each person who made a meal like MyPlate.

Vegetable Subgroup Investigation: (Adults) Divide participants into groups and give each one a MyPlate vegetable subgroup to research. Have each group find out which vegetables belong to their subgroup and what nutrients those vegetables contain. Reconvene and have the groups present what they found.

Variation for kids: make a list of your favorite veggies and count the colors to match the MyPlate veggie groups.

Fruit Tasting Series: (Adults) Have each participant bring his or her favorite snack with fruit. Instruct everyone to bring in enough snacks for each class member to have a taste. Set up a buffet with submissions from the group, and discuss the snacks while everyone eats. Which ones are your new favorite treats? Why did people bring in the snacks they chose?

What Vegetable Am I? (Kids or Adults) Secretly assign each participant a vegetable. Have the class try to guess which vegetable a participant has. Help the participant offer clues about their veggie until the group guesses it. Repeat as necessary.

Switch It Out! (Kids) Have the kids draw a picture of their favorite meal. Does it match MyPlate? Why or why not? Have everyone label their drawings with the food groups from MyPlate, then make a new picture that reimagines the meal according to MyPlate. What has changed? Why?