Educator's Idea File: Wellness Fair Booth Ideas

What do these foods have in common? (fiber) Display beans, oatmeal, apples, brown rice, canned peas, shredded wheat and whole grain bread (and other high fiber foods). The question for the display should be, "What do these foods have in common?" The answer of course, is "fiber"! Anyone who guesses correctly can receive a raffle ticket that is good towards a free prize - or the food basket on the table. You might want to give them a few choices to help them guess the right answer.Can you remember what you see? (fiber) Show a variety of ten high fiber foods and then cover with a cloth. See if they can remember all ten - whoever remembers gets a prize. We recommend: orange, can of black beans, bag of brown rice, container of oatmeal, box of shredded wheat, apple, bag of lentils, box of whole grain pasta, whole wheat bread, sweet potato.Make a healthy plate. (Healthy Plate) Use paper plates and cut outs of foods to help people learn the method of making a healthy plate. You can have quarter-plate-size pieces of vegetables, grains and meats. They should put them together on a plate using half the plate for veggies, half for a lean protein and half for a starch or whole grain. Use the Healthy Plate Poster as a guide - and let them take their plate home with them. It is fun, too, if you trip them up with meat or grains that are too big. Whoever makes a healthy plate can get a ticket for a raffle. We recommend using cut outs of construction paper, magazine food cut outs or food models - you can get those from a toy store or enasco.com Another idea is to create plates using magazine cut outs of food and display them. Have some balanced and some not balanced. See if they can guess which ones are healthy plates and which ones are not so healthy plates. One more idea is to make 2 plates - one balanced and one not balanced. See if they can guess the calorie difference between the two - correct answers get a raffle ticket!MyPyramid Quiz (MyPyramid) Use the handout in the packet for participants to fill out the quiz on MyPyramid. Name 5 food groups of MyPyramid - (MyPyramid) Have participants name the 5 food groups of MyPyramid for a prize or raffle ticket: rains, vegetables, fruit, milk, meat/beans. Make MyPyramid groups (MyPyramid) Using one colored foam board in a color to match each group (orange for grains, green for veggies, red for fruit, blue for milk and purple for meat/beans). Each group should have a hole to fit a bean bag. Create beanbags with different patterns and shapes of food fabrics for every food group. Participants can have fun with a bean bag toss while learning where the foods go for each group.Budget and MyPyramid Use the foods listed on the Cheap and Healthy Shopping List on page 21 of this issue and encourage participants to come up with healthful recipes and meal ideas using these foods. Have a contest to see if anyone can come up with a week’s worth of meals using the list presented. These items are less than .04 per ounce in most areas. Note how food that is less processed and better for you is also lower in price! We have a great handout that would match this well in the online subscriber section called “Budget Eating”. Make a display from each food group using the list of foods on page 21 or in Budget Eating and some other expensive prepared foods and have individuals try to arrange the foods in each set from least expensive per serving to most expensive per serving