Lesson 6 — Foods That Help Me Grow

Summary

Learners connect everyday foods to what a body needs to grow, play, and learn, and begin to notice where food comes from — a seed, a plant, a garden, a farm, or the sea. They close by drawing one meal that would help their body grow.

Objectives

• Sort common foods into “everyday” and “sometimes” groups with guidance. (D03.S3.K.01)

Connection

Food is not just for filling a tummy — it is the building material for your body and the fuel for your play. A seed becomes a bean sprout with water and food from the soil; a child becomes bigger and stronger with food and water, too. Wherever food comes from — a rooftop pot, a field, a fishing boat — it helps living things grow.

Materials

• Food picture cards (fruits, vegetables, grains, beans, fish, milk foods, eggs)
• A small plant or a sprouting seed
• Paper and crayons

Preparation

• Gather food picture cards focused on everyday foods.
• Have a small plant or a bean sprouting in a jar to show growth.
• Clear a space for acting out and drawing.

Facilitator note

This lesson is written to the learner (“you”). As facilitator, keep the focus on what foods do for a body, not on amounts or weight. Never comment on a child’s size or appetite. Be sensitive: some children have little food at home. Speak of food as something all living things need, and honor the many ways people get it — farming, fishing, gathering, buying, growing in pots.

Procedure

1. Gather (5 min). Look at the little plant or seed. What does a plant need to grow? Water and food from the soil. Your body is like that too.
2. Grow like a plant (5 min). Curl up small like a seed. Pretend rain falls, the sun shines, and food reaches your roots. Slowly grow tall, stretch your arms like leaves. Food and water help you grow!
3. What foods help me grow? (15 min). Look at the food cards. Which foods are everyday foods that help a body grow, play, and learn? Sort them: fruits and vegetables, grains and beans, fish and eggs and milk foods. Talk with a partner about one food and what it helps — “Fish helps my body grow strong,” or “Rice gives me energy to run.”
4. Where does food come from? (10 min). Choose one food card and wonder: where did it come from before it was food? A seed in the ground? A tree? The sea? A garden? All food starts as something living.
5. Draw a grow meal (5 min). Draw a plate with foods that would help your body grow and play.
6. Close (5 min). Share your drawing. Food and water help every living thing grow — including you.

Differentiation

• Support: Use three familiar foods and act out “grow” and “play” energy; skip the where-food-comes-from step if it is too much.
• Extension: Invite learners to sort foods by where they come from — plant, animal, or the sea — and to wonder which take longer to grow.

Assessment

• Formative (observation): Can the learner name an everyday food and connect it to growing or playing, with guidance?
• Artifact (portfolio): The “grow meal” drawing.

Home connection

With a grown-up, plant one seed or bean in a cup and put it in the sun. Give it water and watch it grow — then notice that food and water help you grow, too.