MIsprouts Nutrition: How Colorful Food Helps Me
Written by - Kaitlynn from MIgardener
My goal with this series is to make accessible material for parents who want to teach their kids about gardening from the ground up. These guides will consist of a short reading section about a gardening subject, followed by ideas for projects and experiments that can be performed at home to make the concepts more concrete for the kiddos! I hope they can be a source of fun for you and your family.
Read aloud: What's your favorite color? Did you know that different colors of food can do different things to help your body grow and stay healthy? Food keeps us healthy by giving out bodies energy. Some food gives us lots of energy for a short time, and others give us lots of energy for a longer time. Fruits and vegetables are the types of foods that will provide us with energy for longer than others.
Today we will be learning what the colors of fruits and vegetables mean for our growing bodies, and what parts are helped the most by each color! Let's get started. (Don't forget to pick your favorite in each color group!)
Rainbow Food Groups:
1.Red
Red foods make your heart healthier! The ingredients of red fruits and vegetables that make your heart strong are called antioxidants and Vitamin C.
Fruits: strawberries, watermelon, cherries, raspberries, pomegranates, cranberry, red apples
Veggies: tomatoes, radishes, beets, red peppers
2. Orange & Yellow
Orange and yellow fruits and veggies send energy to your eyes and skin. The ingredients that make up orange and yellow food also help your body heal cuts and bruises faster. Vitamin C is the main ingredient that helps to boost these parts of your body!
Fruits: yellow apples, apricots, oranges, grapefruits, peaches, mangoes, papaya, pineapple
Veggies: carrots, pumpkin, corn, sweet potatoes, yellow pepper, yellow tomato, squash
3. Green
Green fruits and veggies send energy to your stomach and help to strengthen your immune system. The immune system is the part of your body that helps fight off sickness.
Fruits: limes, green apples, kiwi, green grapes
Veggies: broccoli, spinach, cabbage, lettuce, brussels sprouts, green beans, cucumber, zucchini, peas, green pepper
4. Blue & Purple
Blue and purple fruits and vegetables boost the strength of your brain! There are lots of antioxidants in these foods that help make your brain stronger, and other parts of your body too!
Fruits: blackberries, blueberries, grapes, plums, raisins, figs
Veggies: eggplant, purple cabbage, purple potatoes, purple onions
5. White
A bonus color you on our list is white! White fruits and vegetables are filled with nutrients, even though they aren't as bright as other fruits and vegetables. White fruits and vegetables keep your blood healthy, and because of that, they help every part of your body!
Fruits: bananas, white nectarines, white peaches, pears
Veggies: potatoes, white onions, mushrooms, cauliflower, turnips
Project: Rainbow Fruit Pizza
You’ll Need:
Sugar cookie dough
cream cheese frosting
a rainbow assortment of fresh fruit
Follow the instructions for fruit pizza in this blog post—Bake cookie dough on a stone pizza pan, or in a rainbow shape. Once the cookie is cooled, decorate with frosting and design of fruit of your choice. With your kids, reiterate the lesson while decorating. Name the body parts that are helped by the color of each fruit. Enjoy!
This is an easy hands-on project for any age group. For more options for crafts and experiments for this lesson, follow our MIsprouts Pinterest page.
Projects recommended for:
All Ages: Rainbow Popsicles | Snack
All Ages: Eat A Rainbow | Nutrition Craft
I hope this post was helpful! Please leave me some feedback in the comments on Facebook!
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