Overview

Description:	Students move or freeze depending on whether a healthy or unhealthy dinner food is named.
Objective:	Students will distinguish between "go" (healthy) and "slow" (less healthy) dinner foods.

Activity

1. Ask the students to stand against a wall facing you.
2. Review what makes a food a "go" food vs. a "slow" food. ("Go" foods help their bodies go and grow. "Slow" foods are high in added sugar and fat and can slow their bodies down.)
3. Remind them that although sugar can make them feel excited at first, it will make them feel very tired after a while.
4. Ask for a few examples of both "go" and "slow" lunch foods (see below for ideas).
5. Explain that you are going to play "'Go' Food/'Slow' Food" again, but this time with dinner foods.
6. Call out the dinner foods listed below in a random order. Start the game with a "go" food.
7. If the students think a food is a "go" dinner food they should jog (or skip or hop) toward you at the other end of the room. If they think a food is a "slow" dinner food, they should freeze in place.
8. If a student moves after a "slow" food is called or freezes when a "go" food is called, they must go back to the start.
9. If time permits, review some foods and their "go" or "slow" classifications with the class.

Background Information

Although all foods can fit into a healthy eating plan in moderation, it is important to reinforce that healthier foods give the body more energy to play and grow. "Junk foods," (processed foods high in fat and added sugar), contain a significant amount of calories but add very little nutrition to kids’ diets.

It is important to connect kids with their food and get them thinking about food less in terms of "good" and "gross" and more in terms of "healthy" and "less healthy" (or "go" and "slow").

Healthy ("Go") Dinner Foods and Drinks:

asparagus	baked potatoes
avocado	steamed broccoli
brown rice	steamed cauliflower
black beans	carrot sticks
grilled tuna	grilled chicken
corn	grilled turkey
green beans	grilled salmon
mushrooms	low-fat macaroni and cheese
snap peas	low-fat milk
salads	whole-grain (brown) noodles
tofu	low-fat vegetable pizza
watermelon	turkey sausage
yogurt	corn or whole wheat tortillas
zucchini	vegetable burgers

Less Healthy ("Slow") Dinner Foods and Drinks:

hamburgers	refried beans
hot dogs	fried chicken
french fries	fried fish sticks
creamy soups	high fat pepperoni pizza
soft drinks	General Tso's chicken
cookies	sweet & sour chicken