Family Activities

Banana Bug
Have your kids make legs and antennae by poking pretzel sticks into a peeled banana. Use peanut butter for eyes and for gluing on a raisin spine. (Use honey instead of peanut butter if you are concerned about peanut allergies.)

Pear Mouse
Cut a pear in half lengthwise with the flat side facing down. (You can also use canned pears). On the narrow end, cut two small holes in the pear and place dried cranberries or raisins for the eyes, thin slices of any vegetable for whiskers, and a long thin slice of banana for the tail.

Do You Eat Your Vegetables? (A song.)
Have your kids sing praise to veggies to the tune of "The Muffin Man."

Lyrics:
Oh, do you eat your vegetables, vegetables, vegetables?
Oh, do you eat your vegetables, each and every day?
Oh, yes we eat our vegetables, vegetables, vegetables,
Oh, yes we eat our vegetables, each and every day!

Then, ask your children in turn to name a vegetable then replace the child's name and the vegetable he or she has chosen:

Example: Oh, Bobby eats his broccoli, broccoli, broccoli. Bobby his eats broccoli... each and every day!

Fruits and Veggies Comic Book Characters
Have your kids create a fruit or veggie comic book character, then draw a picture of him/her. They can give the superfruit or veggie a cool comic book name like Citrus Woman, Ultra-Orange, Sonic Banana, Steel Celery, Karate Carrot or Atomic Apple. While they draw, discuss the source of their hero's superpowers: vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin D, potassium, calcium, etc.

Fruits and Veggies: Twenty Questions
Have a fruit or veggie in mind, and have your kids guess what it is by asking twenty questions. Here are some examples to get them started: Is this fruit or veggie big or little? What color is it? What does the veggie taste like? What does it feel like? When someone guesses right, it's their turn to pick a fruit or veggie and have everyone else ask twenty questions.

Tossed Salad
Players sit on chairs in a circle, with one player, "The Grocer," in the center. The Grocer gives each of the others the name of a fruit or veggie. He/She then calls out the names of any two vegetables. The two players with these names quickly trade places, while the Grocer tries to steal one of their seats. Whoever does not find a seat becomes the Grocer for the next round. At any time, the Grocer may call out "Tossed Salad," and all the players scramble for new seats.

Biggest Orange Peel Smile
Slice an orange into fourths and eat the orange from the rind, leaving the outer peel. Use the peel pieces to cover your teeth. Now say cheese! You can also draw mouths onto the peels first – like shark teeth, fangs or fish lips.

Follow the Rainbow
Get a large white piece of paper and draw a rainbow on it. Give your kids pictures of yellow, green, red, orange, blue and purple fruits and veggies. Have them glue the fruit and veggie pictures on the rainbow to fill in all the colors. If you don’t have pictures,  have them draw fruits and veggies instead.

Fruit and Veggie Flower Fun
Make a bouquet of flowers that you can eat. You will need: Paper plates, broccoli florets, sliced tomatoes and sliced bell peppers. To make a broccoli and tomato flower, place a tomato slice in the middle of a plate and put broccoli florets around it. To make the tomato and bell pepper flower, place the tomato slice in the middle of a plate and surround it with bell pepper slices. Afterward, arrange the plates in a bouquet and enjoy a healthy snack!

Fruits and Veggie Have Families Too!
Gather up different forms of fruits and veggies. Set them all out on a table and have the children put them into “families.” See who can make the biggest family first, and explain how all forms of fruits and veggies count toward your health. Here are some ideas to get you started:

• One could be an apple, a gallon of 100% apple juice, a jar of applesauce, and a bag of dried apples
• Another could be a bunch of grapes, a gallon of 100% grape juice and a box of raisins
• Another could be a can of peas and frozen peas

Fruits and Veggies Picnic Fun
Play a fun memory game that’s all about fruits and veggies! The first child starts by saying “I’m going on a picnic and I am taking an apple.” The next child says the same but adds on another fruit or veggie. For example, "I’m taking an apple and a pear.” The game continues with each child stating what the one before them did, plus adding. See how long your children can go before forgetting the last list.

Fruits and Veggies Shopper Helper
Don’t just write a grocery list, draw a list! Have your kids draw the items with crayons and/or markers.

Guessing Game
Describe a fruit or veggie to your children. Talk about the color, smell, texture, and taste until they are able to guess. Award a winning answer with a fruit or veggie snack!

Paper Bag Coloring Contest
Turn kid’s love of fruit and veggies into an art. With a paper bag and crayons, ask your kids to decorate the bags with their favorite fruit and veggie. After, display the pictures in a "gallery" around the house.

Sculpt-a-Snack
Using colorful Play-Doh, have your kids sculpt the fruit or veggie they want to have as a snack. When someone guesses what it is, award the sculptor with the real, edible version.

Supermarket Scavenger Hunt
Pretend your kitchen is a supermarket. Hide fruits and veggies all over the "supermarket" and give your kids a "shopping list" and grocery sack. Whoever finds the most items on the list wins!

Milk, Milk, Moo
This is a take on "Duck, Duck, Goose." Children sit in a circle facing inwards with one player standing outside the circle. This player then walks around the circle, touching each player on the head and naming them "Milk." If at any point they name somebody "Moo," that player has to catch the other before they can reach the space "Moo" has just left.

I’m a Little Milk Jug
Children can sing and dance to this song, to the tune of "I’m a Little Teapot" (dance motions in parentheses).

First verse:
I’m a little milk jug,
Short and stout
Here is my handle (one hand on hip),
Here is my spout (other arm points to top of head)
When I get nice and cold,
Hear me shout
Just tip me over and pour me out (lean over)

Second verse:
I’m a clever milk jug,
Yes it’s true
Here let me show you
What I can do
I can change my handle
And my spout (switch arm positions)
Just tip me over and pour me out (lean over)

Grab a Carton
This is a fun game for a group of kids! Give each child in the game a washed, empty 1% milk carton or jug, either half or one gallon. Put the cartons on the floor, making sure there is one less carton than kids. As music plays everyone walks in a circle around the cartons. When the music stops, everyone must grab a carton. The child who hasn’t picked a carton is out. Each time a person is out, take another carton out from the center so that there is still one less carton than people. The winner is the child who stays in the game the longest.

How Low Can You Go?
Explain to your kids that this game is all about “going low,” which means drinking 1% milk. Have two children hold each end of a stick, such as a broom handle, about three feet from the ground. Have the other children line up and go under the stick by bending backward under it. Any child that touches the stick is out. Once everyone has had a turn, lower it about six inches and have them try again. Continue lowering the stick each round until there is only one player that can make it under the stick. Just how low can they go?

Milk Carton Relay
This is another fun activity for a group of kids. Divide the kids into two teams. Start at one end of the room and create a marker 20 feet away (a desk, or tape on floor). Give each team an empty 1% milk jug. Put enough sand or water in the bottom of each carton to add some weight to it, and replace the lid so it doesn’t leak. The first player in each team will place the carton on their head and race to the marker and back trying not to drop the milk jug. The first player will then pass the carton to the next teammate and so on, until the last team member crosses the finish line. First team to finish is the winner!

Aim Game
Arrange the empty milk cartons in a line. Make "rings" by connecting straws. Stand back and take turns seeing how many rings you can get around the cartons.

Bowling for Calcium
Place milk jugs in pyramid shape similar to bowling pins at one end of the living room. Stand on the other side. Using a tennis ball, have your kids knock down the milk jug bowling pins. The player who knocks down the most milk jugs wins.

Cheese Party!
Hold a cheese tasting party with lots of low fat milk on hand to drink. Set out cubes, slices, strings, or even cottage cheese. You can serve them on plates with apple slices and crackers. While the kids enjoy the taste-testing party, explain how milk comes from cows and how cheese comes from milk; most importantly, explain that cheese is just another way to get all the great benefits of milk!

Crazy Straw Game
Make the longest, craziest shaped straw that still works. Have each child assemble as many straws as possible in twisty, turny shapes. Have them use tape to seal up the straw connections so milk won’t leak so they can slurp up as much 1% low fat milk as possible.

Do the Milkshake!
Add a scoop of each child's milkshake flavor of choice (flavored powder in chocolate, vanilla or strawberry) to a water bottle filled with 1% low fat or fat free milk.  Put the cap on tightly, and have the kids shake, shake, shake their milk. Ask them to make up dances and songs that sing the praise of 1% low fat and fat free milk. Then, everybody enjoy the milkshakes!

Do the Moo!
Have a contest where kids are timed to see who can moo the longest. Congratulate the one who moos the longest and have lots of cups of 1% low fat and fat free milk to clear their throats!

Grow a Healthy Flower
Give each of your children one large, empty, plain, low fat yogurt container. Fill them with soil. Help them plant flower seeds and use the activity to explain the benefits of low fat milk and how it relates to healthy growth. Have your kids water the plants daily and watch them grow strong, just like people who drink low fat milk.

Milk It!
Sit in a circle with your children. Start a story about milk, saying about five or six words, such as “I like to drink milk because…” and then your child next to you continues the story where you left off. S/he might say “it tastes good, and….” And it continues all the way around the circle. Each child gets to say something about milk and it ends up being really fun and funny!

Milk Jug Catch
Cut the bottoms off of gallon milk jugs to make scoops, or "mitts." Stand three feet apart and toss a soft ball to each other, using the milk jug scoops.

Milk Toss
Cut the tops off of milk cartons and place them 5 feet apart from each other. Have your children line up and toss tennis balls into them. The child who can throw the tennis ball into the gallon without missing it five times in a row wins.

Picture of Health
Give your kids a stack of magazines, scissors and a list of prompter words (i.e. strong teeth, strong bones, more energy, creamy, cereal, low fat milk, low fat cheese, low fat yogurt, healthy, physical activity) and have them cut out pictures/ads or parts of pictures/ads that pertain to each word. Then give them a piece of construction paper and have them make a collage of their findings. Then display them on a wall and have a show-and-tell.

Pyramid Mixer
What other food groups pair well with 1% low fat milk and plain low fat yogurt? The fun is finding out! Give your kids some ideas and add a few of your own. Mixers like cereal, crumbled graham crackers, sliced fresh fruit, applesauce, nuts and raisins are delicious and easy ways to add pizzazz to low fat milk or plain low fat yogurt.

Stick the Spots on the Cow
Draw a large, spotless cow on white butcher paper, cut it out and tape it to a wall. Give your kids brown construction paper "spots," with low fat milk facts written on them. (They could make these themselves too). Blindfold them, spin them around and have them try to tape the spots on the cow. This will be funny for the whole family, because the spots will probably cluster in weird places. Each time a spot is placed on the cow, read the fact out loud to everyone.

Smoothie and Milksicle Party
With the help of your kids, blend a mix of fruits and low fat milk in a blender. Then pour the mixtures into ice cube trays with craft sticks. Because you'll have to wait a while to enjoy those, make another batch and add ice for a tasty and healthy treat the family can enjoy instantly.

Taste Test
Do a blind taste test of whole milk, 2%, fat free, and 1% low fat milk. See who can identify which is which. Everyone may be surprised by the results! Who says low fat doesn’t taste the same?

The Calcium is Right
Just like the game show "The Price is Right™," line up a display of foods containing calcium: whole milk, fat free milk, low fat milk, yogurt, low fat cheese, low fat cottage cheese, an orange, half a cup of broccoli and a corn tortilla. On slips of paper, mark the milligrams of calcium in each item and put them in an envelope. Tape the envelopes under each item. Make a game show of it, introduce the items, and have your kids write down their "guess" as to how much calcium is in each item. Then reveal the answers. The winner has the best guess.

Calcium information: whole milk (1 cup), 276 mg; fat free milk (1 cup), 306 mg; 1% low fat milk (1 cup), 290 mg; plain low fat yogurt (8 oz), 415 mg; low fat cheddar cheese (1 oz), 118 mg; low fat cottage cheese (1 cup), 138 mg; orange (1 medium), 52 mg; broccoli (½ cup raw), 20 mg. For more nutrient data, go to the Nutrient List from the USDA National Nutrient Database Online Search.

Tongue Twister Contest
Challenge your kids to say, "Mighty Mike mixes fat free milk in milk mixers" three times as fast as they can. The player who can say it the most times without jumbling the words wins a glass of 1% low fat milk!

Simon Says
Simon Says is a fun way for kids to learn and be active at the same time. Instead of just the usual commands, like "Simon Says touch your nose," use activities associated with a healthy lifestyle, like "go on a hike." The kids should only do the command when you say "Simon says." Here are some examples: Grow like a flower, go on a hike, kick a ball, ride a bike, water the plants, mix a salad, wash the veggies, pour a glass of milk.

Create Your Garden
Kids love to draw. This exercise lets children use their imagination to draw their ideal garden. Using crayons, markers, or paint, encourage your kids to draw a garden with their favorite fruits, vegetables, flowers, and plants. Don't forget the sun and water. Ask them questions as they create their garden. Questions like, "Do apples grow on trees or vines?" or "Where do carrots grow?" This gives kids the chance to learn where fruits and veggies come from and ask questions if they don't know.

Family Activity Collage
Do you have old magazines at home? Have the kids look through magazines and newspapers to find pictures of things they like to do with your family. Children make a collage by cutting out and gluing pictures they find. After they finish making their collage, they can share their artwork with the rest of the family.

Create Your Own Story
This game allows children to use their imaginations and creativity. We've provided a list of words you can use for this game. Write a different word on each piece of paper and pass it out at the start of the game. Then sit in a circle with your kids. You will start the story off with a sentence. The child sitting next to you adds on to your story with a sentence of their own. The next child will add on to theirs. Continue going around the circle until you have made a fun, complete story. Here is a list of words you can use for this game: Hike, Cook, Run, Bike, Flowers, Soccer Ball, Grow, Fruits, Family, Park.

Last Letter Game
Play this as a family at the dinner table. Someone names a food, "apple" for example, the next person has to say a food starting with the last letter of "apple." So they say "egg," and the next person says "green pepper." And so on. See how long the game can last!

Lunch Munch
It’s time to rhyme. Have kids take turns rhyming a word with a food item. Players get bonus points for using two food items, i.e. cheese/peas. Here are some other examples: milk/silk, pear/chair, pickle/nickel, juice/goose. So if you have a word that rhymes with carrot, you better share it! Whoever gets the most rhymes wins.

Menu Maker
Have the kids design and create a restaurant-like menu with paper, markers and crayons. Make up meals with an item from each food group in MyPyramid.

Paper Plate Pyramid
Give each child a paper plate. Each child paints his/her plate with a healthy meals. Each meal needs to include one of every food group. After the paper plates are dry, display the plates and have a mini-art show.

What Food Am I?
Tape a picture of a food item on the back of your child(ren). Each child should not see what the food item is. Have he/she turn around and show the other children the picture. They then has to ask questions of the group until he/she can guess what food is on his/her back. Expect lots of laughs!