Lesson Plan

Title: Eat the Rainbow

Subject: Nutrition
Grade/Age Range: Preschool (age 4-5)
Duration: 20 Minutes

Note: This lesson plan can be used in a community setting for young children, such as a school.
Objectives:
1. Goal: Educate kids on eating a variety of fruits and vegetables.
2. SMART Objectives:
By the end of the lesson, 80% of children will be able to identify 1 fruit/vegetable of each of the
five colors.
One week after the lesson, 50% of students consume 1 additional serving of fruit/vegetable daily
than they consumed before the lesson.
Materials:
Educational Poster Board
10 Brown Paper Bags
Printouts of Fruits/Vegetables
10 Shopping Lists
10 MyPlate Handouts
10 Snacks
Overview of Lesson:
The point of the lesson is to teach the preschoolers the relationship between different colors of
fruits/vegetables and different varieties of fruits/vegetables. After a brief spoken lesson about how eating
all the colors of the rainbow means eating more variety, children will receive a shopping list with each
color of the rainbow. They will then take the shopping list and go shopping around the room. Each child
will pick up a fruit/vegetable of each color. Fruits and vegetables of different colors will be located in
sections by color.One of these will be their snack. We will transition into snack time from here and then
regroup to answer questions and ask our own about what their favorite fruits/vegetables were.
Anticipatory Set or Motivator:
The lesson will be introduced with the idea of variety of color equating variety of fruit in language that
small children can understand. The challenge of getting each color into their bag will entice the children
to understand this portion of the lesson while exposing them to both familiar and new fruits/vegetables.
Lesson Sequence/Procedures:
Part 1:
The children will first be gathered into a group sitting down. Teachers (us) will have a poster board
showing the rainbow with examples of fruits and vegetables in their respective color group. Teachers
will take turns reviewing each color group and naming foods that fall into the categories. Children
will be asked frequently if they have questions and questions should be posed. Questions should
include but are not limited to: What is your favorite? what have you heard of before? What is new to
you? which one has the silliest name? Which ones make a great snack?

Part 2:
Each child will receive a brown paper bag containing a MyPlate handout for the parents. Stapled on
the front of the bag will be a shopping list with a checkbox for each color group. Because the students
may not read well, the name of each color will be written in the respective color. Around the room
will be different stations of food for the children to shop from. After all the kids have finished
shopping, they will regather in their original setup and eat their snack, a grinch santa hat (green grape,
strawberry, and banana slice). While eating, teachers will ask if the kids have any questions. Then, the
teachers will ask students to share some of the items they went shopping for. Teachers should
introduce any fruits/vegetables that the kids picked up but did not know the name of.
Part 3:
As a back-up in case there is more time, a survey of what the kids liked should be taken. The results
will be tallied on a chart so students can see what fruits and vegetables their peers enjoy. In the end,
quickly reiterate that eating different colors of fruits/vegetables is good for them. Teachers will thank
the class, collect their evaluations from the teachers, and say goodbye.
Closure:
During the lesson children were exposed to the connection between colors and variety. They were able to
see many different fruits and vegetables of different colors and interacted with the fruits and vegetables.
The hope would be that the kids would use the classroom mock up as an example for their own life, and
may ask for those variety of fruits and vegetables when they go shopping with their parents.
Assessment Options:
Each student will have a shopping list which will indicate whether or not each student was able to
select a fruit or vegetable of each color group.
The second activity (if time permits) allows teachers to determine whether the kids learned about
any new vegetables or fruits. If reevaluation were possible, teachers could go back after one week
and review students fruit and vegetable consumption to see if the kids have added at least one
more serving of fruits/vegetables into their diet.
Extension Activities:
The tallying of each childrens likes and new-findings is an optional extension activity if time permits.
Recommended Resources:
Each paper bag will have a myplate handout for the kids to take home to their parents.