Most kids like to end a hearty play session with a snack to replenish energy; By the way, this post-game feast is the perfect time to introduce important nutrition concepts. This guide covers three educational games that will help your children learn about healthy snack options while enjoying their favorite snacks, a memorable combination.

3 Nutrition Games for Kids

You can adapt these games for children of any age by changing the rules and asking harder questions.

1. Mix and match food groups

This is an easy game for the little ones. As you prepare a meal or snack, let children group the ingredients into their respective food groups. If they are old enough to know about vitamins, you can let them sort the ingredients by vitamin content or try the same thing with calories. Every mistake is an opportunity to share a little information about the food the children are about to eat.

2. Play chef

Younger children love to help around the house, and older children like to learn new skills that they can use to impress their friends. Cooking is a great activity for both age groups. Younger children can have fun arranging the ingredients for a meal in a life-size food pyramid, while older children can enjoy exercising their creativity to create recipes that include one ingredient from each food group. Both activities allow kids to feel like they’ve accomplished something the whole family can enjoy: a healthy meal.

3. The Food Sources Scrapbook

Visual and hands-on learners will like this one. A food source scrapbook is a fun family project made from trips to where food comes from. Even magazine clippings will work great for creating a scrapbook. Your kids can make a page for each of their favorite foods, along with pictures showing where that food comes from.

Try to show the sources of all ingredients, including salt mines or peppercorn vines. Include a map of the country of import if your family is concerned about the environment as well as health. They will learn a lot when they ask where the popular snacks come from and see the large by-product factories/tubs contrasted with the sprawling farms and open pastures.

Who said nutrition had to wait for health class? Schools don’t have time to make sure kids know the intricacies of food groups and how they come together to form a healthy diet. The older children get, the more freedom they receive in terms of food choices, and like any other freedom, children need the tools to use it responsibly.