Lesson 8 — Food for My Growing Body

Summary

Learners connect food to growth and movement: food is fuel that gives a growing body energy to run, play, learn, and get stronger. They identify foods that help them grow and honor the many different foods families eat around the world.

Objectives

• Identify foods that help a body grow and sort common foods into “everyday” and “sometimes” groups with guidance. (D03.S3.K.01)

Connection

Everything you do with your body — running, hopping, thinking, and growing taller — uses energy, and food is where that energy comes from. A bowl of rice, a piece of fruit, some beans, bread, fish, or vegetables are all foods that help a body grow. Different families eat different foods, and every culture has its own growing foods — from corn and cassava to lentils and greens. What matters is that food fuels your body, and every family’s way of eating is worth honoring.

Materials

• Food picture cards (fruits, vegetables, grains, beans, fish, bread, rice)
• Crayons and paper
• A “growing foods” chart

Preparation

• Prepare or gather food picture cards showing a variety of foods from many places.
• Draw a large “growing foods” chart.
• Remind learners that there are no “bad” foods and no wrong answers here.

Facilitator note

This lesson is written to the learner (“you”). As facilitator, keep the message kind and never shame any food, body, or family. No food shaming, ever — this is a core guardrail. Talk about foods as fuel and help, not as “good” vs. “bad,” and never tie food to a child’s size or weight. Honor the wide world of eating: a food that one family eats daily may be rare for another, and both are fine. This lesson extends U.00.002’s “Foods That Help Me Grow” by linking food to this unit’s theme of movement and growth.

Procedure

1. Gather (5 min). Put a hand on your tummy. What did you eat today? Food gives your body energy — the same energy you used to run, hop, and play in our other lessons.
2. Food is fuel (10 min). Look at the food cards. Foods help your body in different ways: some give you quick energy to run and jump, others help you grow taller and stronger, and all of them are fuel for a busy, growing body. Pass the cards around and name the foods you know.
3. Build the chart and sort (15 min). Add each food card to the “growing foods” chart. Say aloud how each one helps: “rice gives me energy to run,” “beans help me grow strong,” “fruit gives me energy to play.” Every food on the chart helps a body grow. Then sort together: which of these foods do you eat almost every day, and which are for special days? Move each card to show “everyday” or “sometimes” — remembering there is no wrong answer, because every family is different.
4. Draw a growing food (10 min). Draw one food you like that helps your body grow, move, or learn. It can be a food your family eats often.
5. Close (5 min). Food + movement + rest all help you grow. Which food are you excited to eat today?

Differentiation

• Support: Focus on a few familiar foods; let learners point to or name a food instead of sorting.
• Extension: Invite learners to share a growing food special to their family or culture and to draw two foods that help in different ways (one for energy, one for growing strong).

Assessment

• Formative (observation): Can the learner name or point to a food, say in simple words how food helps a growing body, and place a common food in an “everyday” or “sometimes” group?
• Artifact (portfolio): The learner’s drawing of a growing food.

Home connection

At your next meal, notice what is on the table and ask a grown-up how it helps your body grow. Tell them which food gives you energy to run and play.