Kentucky Beef Council

Kids In the Kitchen: Nutritional Necessities for Young Cooks

Updated 1/10/2019

MyPyramid Trivia

1.Show students the MyPyramid display and ask if they have seen the new food guide pyramid yet? Mention:

  • The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is one part of our federal government concerned with nutrition.
  • In 2005, USDA developed MyPyramid to remind all Americans to eat more healthfully and to be physically active. MyPyramid replaced the old Food Guide Pyramid.
  • USDA even developed a special poster called MyPyramid for Kids designed especially for students your age.
  • Take a look at the Meet the Power Foods and MyPyramid for Kids posters.
  • How are they similar?
  • How are they different?
  • Did you notice that the bands on MyPyramid are different widths? Why do you think they were drawn that way? (To get all the nutrients you need, you should eat more from some food groups than others)

2.Go over the MyPyramid with the students. Ask students if they know what the orange strip stands for? (Grains) Do so with all of the colored strips (Green=Vegetables, Red=fruits, Yellow=Fats/Oils (do not label because it is used sparingly), Blue=Milk, Purple=Meat & Beans)

3.Next, to help students remember the recommended number of daily servings for each of the food groups, teach them this two-part mnemonic tool:

  • Teach students the sequence of the five food groups on the MyPyramid for Kids and Meet the Power Foods posters: Grains, Vegetables, Fruit, Milk, and Meat & Beans. To remember this sequence of the food groups teach a 5-word phrase in which the first letter of each word of the phrase corresponds to the first letter of a food group name: Good Value For My Money
  • Once students have memorized the sequence of the five food groups, teach the 6-5-3-3-2 chant with the following hand motion sequence to help students remember the recommended number of daily servings:

Action / Chant
Hold up three fingers on each hand and swing hands forward / “Six Grains”
With all five fingers up on the right hand, swing the right hand forward / “Five Vegetables”
With three fingers up on the left hand, swing the left hand forward / “Three Fruits”
With three fingers up on right hand, swing right hand forward / “Three Milks”
With only pointer fingers up on both hands, swing both hands forward / “Two Meats”
  • Have students practice the chant and hand motions several times so they have a chance to get the recommended serving numbers into their memories.

4.After completing the chant, explain to children that beef has ZIP! ZIP is an acronym for Zinc, Iron, and Protein. All three of these nutrients are essential for people, especially growing kids like themselves. Then tell them that on the pyramid, there is a word scramble to decode these nutrients.

5.Also, explain to students that the pyramid also has a picture puzzle game. There are pictures of all different types of foods. Match up the food with the food group it belongs in. Also, place the name of the food group on the appropriate color strip.

6.Then have students break up into small groups and place food group names and foods in the right place on the MyPyramid. Remind them that the less nutritional value it has, the higher it goes on the pyramid.

7.Let children interact with the MyPyramid display and help them if they need any assistance.

8.Lastly, tell students that another side of the pyramid explains the 29 leans cuts of beef. The rule for the Meat & Beans food group is to “go lean with your protein”. Beef has 29 lean cuts to choose from that fit between a skinless chicken breast and chicken thigh for content. So good news, beef is just as “skinny” as chicken!

9. Teacher needs to remove materials off the pyramid and place them back on the table once the station is complete.