U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

MyPlate Food Fun

MyPlate Food Fun

Looking for fun activities to do with your kids? MyPlate has you covered! Get kids excited about healthy eating with these easy family-friendly activities that incorporate all five of the MyPlate food groups -- Fruits, Vegetables, Grains, Protein Foods, and Dairy.

Image
Winter icon
Image
Spring icon
Image
Summer icon

Winter Food Fun: MyPlate Snowman Scene

 

Image
Winter Food Fun 6

 

Image
Winter Food Fun 1

Before getting started, be sure to wash your hands!

Step 1: Gather all of your ingredients and supplies. You’ll need whole-grain bread, peanut butter, a banana, raisins, a carrot, pretzel sticks, low-fat cheese slices (a white cheese will work best), your favorite green vegetable (we used a bell pepper), and edible snow (we chose air-popped popcorn, but a light colored cereal would work as well). Be creative and use what you already have on hand.

You’ll also need the following supplies: butter knife, snowman cookie cutter, cutting board, and a small snowflake cookie cutter.

Image
Winter Food Fun 2

Step 2: Make a peanut butter and banana sandwich. Use the snowman cookie cutter to create your main character. (Tip: Don’t waste the crusts! Enjoy the non-snowman parts of the sandwich now as a snack or save for later.)

Image
Winter Food Fun 3

Step 3: Make the snowflakes. (Tip: If you don’t have a small snowflake cookie cutter, you can use a plain circle and create snowballs instead! Cheese leftovers from the cutouts can be enjoyed as a snack now or refrigerated for later.)

Image
Winter Food Fun 4

Step 4: Now it’s time to create your scene! Relocate your snowman to a plate (a plate in a solid color works best) and give him a face, hat, buttons, and arms. If it’s cold outside, he may need a scarf too.

Image
Winter Food Fun 5

Step 5: Cover the ground in “snow” and plant trees. (If you don’t have a bell pepper, use another green fruit or vegetable such as snow peas or kiwi.)

Image
Winter Food Fun 6

Step 6: Let it snow! Add cheese snowflakes or snowballs to complete the scene on your plate. Add seasonal tableware and napkins to complete the scene on your table.

Step 7: Any finishing touches? Have fun and make it your own. Orange and yellow low-fat cheese can be used to add stars or a sun to the sky. Plant extra trees or build a house. Then eat and enjoy!

Spring Food Fun: MyPlate Flowers Scene

 

Image
Spring Food Fun

 

Image
Spring Food Fun

Step 1: Wash your hands and collect your supplies. For our spring scene, we used cucumbers, carrots, fresh strawberries, navel oranges, low-fat cheese sticks, air-popped popcorn, and sunflower seeds. Feel free to incorporate some foods you have at home to personalize your spring scene. You’ll also need a cutting board, a knife for cutting up fruits and veggies, and a plate for your canvas. Remember to wash your hands and produce before you start chopping!

Step 2: Chop up your fruits and veggies
Grab your cutting board and paring knife. To create blades of grass, we sliced a cucumber and halved the slices. Our sun is a slice of orange, and the flower buds and petals are made from sliced strawberries. We also sliced a carrot and cut the slices into quarters to create sunrays.

Step 3: Create your spring scene
Now it’s time to get creative – grab a plate and have the kids design their own spring scene! Want to show a little spring shower? After all, April showers do bring May flowers! Form clouds with popcorn and turn sunflower seeds into rain drops.

Create flowers using cheese sticks (or celery sticks!) for stems, and additional cucumber slices as leaves. You can make the flower buds and petals out of any number of tasty fruits or vegetables. Not a fan of strawberries? Slice up an orange, peach, or red bell pepper.

Want to enjoy a sunny day instead? One option is to make a sun out of an orange slice and use slices of carrot, quartered, for rays of sunlight.

Step 4: Enjoy your tasty treat
The best part of this activity is getting to eat it at the end! This tasty snack can include all five food groups and provides a hands-on demonstration with foods that fit a healthy eating style. Kids can try new foods – and might discover some new favorites!

 

MyPlate Spring Food Fun

Summer Food Fun

Image
Shop Simple home screen on a phone

Shop Simple with MyPlate

Find savings in your area and discover new ways to prepare budget-friendly foods.

Learn more

Image
Alexa Speakers and Devices

MyPlate on Alexa

Get MyPlate nutrition tips on Amazon Alexa devices or the free Alexa app.

Learn more

Image
Start Simple app on phone and watch

Start Simple with MyPlate App

Build healthy eating habits one goal at a time! Download the Start Simple with MyPlate app today.

Learn more

Image
logo for the Dietary Guidelines for Americans

MyPlate.gov is based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025