It is essential to educate children about the importance of eating healthy and following a healthy lifestyle, so they can try and implement those ideas in their day-to-day lives, from an early age. Given below are some activities that teachers can use to provide health education tips to children in a fun and interactive manner.

ACTIVITY 1

Healthy Habits:
(Nursing stuffed animals back to health in a pretend infirmary)

Materials:
markers paper (large sheet) stuffed animals or dolls

Directions:
Encourage healthy habits through discussion and role-play.

1) Discuss: Ask children to think of a time when they were sick. What made them feel better when they were sick? Was it some medicine or treatment? Was it something nice someone gave them or did for them?

2) Brainstorm: On a large sheet of paper, help children make a list of ways to keep healthy (e.g., maintaining a nutritious diet, brushing teeth, washing hands and faces, exercising). Talk about things that help prevent injury (e.g., avoiding the stove or pot handles, holding a grown-up's hand when crossing the street).

3) Role-play: Invite the children to take care of sick stuffed animals or dolls. Ask them why doesn't the toy feel good? What would make it feel better? Children can nurture their toys, and practice some first aid. They may want to let the toys "sleep overnight" in bed in order to make them feel better the next day.

Take it Further
Provide toy medical props for kids to use in their role-play situations.

With a Group
Ask children and their friends to assemble a collection of old toys and books that are in decent condition. Help them arrange to donate these things to a local children's hospital.

Source: www.pbskids.org/arthur/parentsteachers/lesson/health/

ACTIVITY 2

Healthy Food Collage

Objective: To be able to name healthy foods.

Plan: Have many food magazines from local grocery stores for children to cut out pictures. Try to have as many colored pictures as possible. The children also need glue, scissors and a piece of card paper to glue it on.

Activity:

Talk to children about healthy foods.

Give them each some glue, scissors and a piece of cardboard. Have them look through magazines for pictures of healthy foods that they like to eat.

Then have them cut them out and glue them onto their piece of cardboard.

Tell them the name of the food and the advantages of eating the food item.

When they are all done they will be able to stand up one at a time in front of the class and tell the other students what they picked out and point to the picture of that food item. They will be able to name the food item and quote the advantages of eating that particular food item.

Hang them up around the room for parents and other teachers to see.

Source: www.atozteacherstuff.com/pages/244.shtml