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Type of Play: Promotion
Subcategory: Let’s Get Going
Student Interest Areas: Culinary, Physical Fitness, Sports
Grade Level: Elementary & Secondary
Level of Involvement: Going Further
Host a family day picnic to highlight the importance of healthy eating and physical activity. Through fun physical activities and healthy eating opportunities, help families learn how they can eat and play together in a healthy way.
Everyone Can:
- Help select the best time and place to hold a picnic
- Select fun physical activities for families
- Help choose healthy foods to serve
- Select and invite special guests
- Prepare and distribute handouts to participants
- Plan a picnic that includes fun activities, such as races or contests that families can do together. Form a team and meet with the principal to decide on the best day, time and school location for the event. The picnic could also be held inside, in a location such as the school gym or cafeteria.
- Decide on which ages you want to target. Do you want to limit participation to students at your school and other schools in your community, or will you include younger or older siblings?
- Work with your school nutrition professionals to decide which nutrient-rich foods to have at the picnic. Select several fun physical activities that everyone can do together and organize the events. Be sure to create handouts explaining the different events so everyone can participate and have fun.
- Invite guest speakers who can provide information for families. Some possible guests might be the school nurse, a local celebrity (such as a health news broadcaster) or a local chef.
- Consult the Tools and Resources below to find activity ideas, information sheets, sample request letters and more for help in getting the community involved.
This Play may help you meet the goals of the USDA's HealthierUS School Challenge!
Get
ideas for getting your entire community involved in Fuel Up to Play 60!
Learn about funding opportunities to help you implement your program successfully.
Family, Food and Fitness Day
"great!!!"
"We had a Community Day based on healthy eating with tables of physical activity that was science based. Our sponsors were Eat, Right Now and FUTP60, several Health care services, Fire Dept, school wide Healthierschools initiative Home and School Assoc."
"We held our Kickoff event in the evening so that parents and the community could also be involved."
"For the next school year, Funds for Fuel Up to Play 60 will allow us to improve our healthy eating program by continuing after-school hands-on cooking labs where students learn how to create and prepare healthy and inexpensive recipes, host an “enriching family mealtimes” night where students and their families are invited to learn the importance of eating together as a family and can discuss concerns about the nutrition and health of our students along with learning new and nutritious creative recipes. "
"Students in physical education class created obstacle courses to demonstrate various ways to exercise."
"At the end of the school year we have a Healthy Lunch Day when each family shares a recipe that is healthy for all the classmates to try. The teachers love this day because we feast on great food!"