Paint Your Plate Lesson Plan Grade 8 – Taking Action

Download the PDF version here.

Minds on

Initiate a classroom discussion to get students thinking about how we can enjoy eating more vegetables and fruit at home, school and in the community.

Note to teachers

The goal of this lesson is to increase students’ awareness and understanding of strategies to increase access to and enjoyment of vegetables and fruit.

Key messages to share with students

  • School is a great place to put into practice what is taught in the classroom about healthy eating and the importance of vegetables and fruit. There are many opportunities to add vegetables and fruit into the school environment.
  • Students can help increase vegetable and fruit consumption at home by helping with the grocery list, grocery shopping and food preparation.
  • Communities can encourage the consumption of vegetables and fruit by enhancing and promoting programs like community kitchens, cooking classes, Good Food Box programs, local farmer’s markets, etc.

Dig deeper

Teacher prompts

“What do you and your family do to increase the amount of vegetables and fruit you eat at home? Is there anything else you could do at home that would help your family enjoy more vegetables and fruit? Do you help your parents prepare vegetables and fruit?”

“How does the school encourage students to choose more vegetables and fruit? What else could the school do to help students choose vegetables and fruit more often?”

“Would it be helpful to have cooking classes or cooking demons at school? What could you do to help make this possible?”

Activities

Option 1: Ask students to search for local programs in their community that help increase access to vegetables and fruit.

  • How does the program work? When and where does it take place? How often?
  • Have students develop a promotional flyer or poster to promote this program at school or in their community

Option 2: Ask students to develop a school policy that would promote increased intake of vegetables and fruit. For example:

  • Food fundraising with vegetables and/or fruit only. See the Show Me the Money badge page.
  • Ensuring vegetables and/or fruit are on the menu for special events such as school BBQs, classroom parties, etc. See the The Big Day badge page.
  • Make school celebrations not only fun but healthy with vegetable and fruit options. See the Reason to Celebrate badge page.
  • Add a serving of fruit or vegetable to your hot lunch options (e.g. sell a bag of carrots along with your main meal). See the Menu Makeover badge page.

Curriculum connections

Grade 8, D3. Making Connections for Healthy Living. D3.1 Promoting healthy eating.

Identify strategies for promoting healthy eating habits and food choices within the school, home, and community (e.g., implementing school healthy food policies, launching healthy-eating campaigns, choosing healthy food items to sell in fundraising campaigns, getting involved in family meal planning, learning food preparation skills, urging local restaurants to highlight healthy food choices).

Reference: The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 1-8, Health and Physical Education, 2019