Sesame Street may be where the air is sweet, but these days it’s also where the food… isn’t.
The children’s television show has started a program to help get kids eating food that’s better for them.
The program is called, “Food for Thought: Eating Healthy on a Budget.”
About one in four children in the United States does not get enough nutritious food to eat, often because parents can’t afford it. That’s about six million children, according to the Sesame Street website.
Sesame Street’s “Food for Thought” program gives parents a kit which includes a video with information about healthy snacks, and the importance of eating together as a family.
Four new Sesame Street characters, the “Superfoods,” teach kids about foods that are good for you and inexpensive.
The kit includes videos of the Sesame Street characters talking and singing about “sometime” foods (like chips and cookies) and “anytime” foods (like vegetables and fruits) and the importance of “eating a rainbow of colours.”
The kit also includes healthy recipes and videos that help parents model healthy behaviour like eating well and being active.
Related links
The Sesame Street Food for Thought materials are available free online.
The website features a number of kid-friendly videos about eating right. The “Food for Thought” video is about 24 minutes long and features Super Grover. (Note that it starts with a several-second, serious-looking “FBI warning” about copyright.)
Check out Canada’s Food Guide.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
By Kathleen Tilly
Writing/Discussion Prompt
Why do you think Sesame Street decided to create this program about healthy eating? Do you think Sesame Street has a responsibility to educate children and parents, or can Sesame Street just be about entertainment?
Reading Prompt: Demonstrating Understanding
Sesame Street’s new program, “Food for Thought,” recommends that adults and children make healthy choices when eating. For example, they should focus on eating “anytime” foods rather than “sometimes” foods. Can you think of 10 “sometimes” foods and 10 “anytime” foods? What do you think Sesame Street means when it advises people to ‘eat a rainbow’?
Keep a food journal for 3 days. Write down everything you eat for meals and snacks. Circle all of the “anytime” foods in green and the “sometimes” foods in yellow. Do you think you eat a good variety of healthy foods?
Primary
Extend understanding of texts by connecting the ideas in them to their own knowledge and experience, to other familiar texts, and to the world around them (OME, Reading: 1.6).
Junior
Extend understanding of texts by connecting the ideas in them to their own knowledge, experience, and insights, to other familiar texts, and to the world around them (OME, Reading: 1.6).
Grammar Feature: New Words
Did you know that words are always being added to our vocabulary and to the dictionary? One word that is relatively new is “superfood.” A superfood is a food that has a lot of nutrition and is very healthy for you.
The most popular word that was added to the dictionary in 2013 was “selfie.” A selfie is when you take a picture of yourself.
Make up your own word and create a definition for it. See if you can use it in three different sentences.
