What's Your Snack?

Students should have the general understanding that the more nutrients in a food or a beverage, the better it is for your body and brain. The lessons in this unit present a fun and interactive way to learn about sugar content in snacks and drinks. Kids will increase their decision-making skills as they learn how to read a food label to tell if an item contains excessive amounts of sugar. They will plan and advocate for nutritious snack and drink choices that are low in added sugar.

Ask kids to look at their drink tally sheets from Lesson 3. Ask them if they made better choices because they know more about the nutritional value of milk and water.

Let kids know that they will take a closer look at the added sugar in snacks so they are better able to make healthy decisions.

To use this with your studentsclick here.

Snack Attack

Help kids brainstorm foods in their grocery stores that do not have a label. Then let them know that foods without labels are likely to have no added sugar!

Snack Choices

Watch theslideshowto learn about the difference between a "snack" and a "treat." A snack is a small portion of nutritious food eaten between meals. Snacks have no or very little added sugar. A treat has less nutrition and more added sugar than snacks. Treats are okay sometimes.

Teacher tip: No label on the food? It is probably a fresh fruit or vegetable, which do not require nutrition labels. These are great snacks!

Check for understanding: What snack choices are best for your body and brain?

How many kinds of nutritious foods can your learners find on theHealthy Foods Coloring Pages?

Today we learned that nutritious snack choices have little or no added sugar.

Now that you know more about nutritious snack choices, what will you choose for your next snack?