10 Nutrition-Related Activities for Preschoolers

When it comes to preschoolers learning about food and nutrition, it’s important to have fun while teaching concepts and skills that will set children up to live a healthy lifestyle. Forming a happy and mindful relationship with food is a gift that will benefit children long past their preschool years.  

We have gathered some ideas that will encourage preschoolers to find joy in learning about food – and eating it! From making buildings out of snacks to practicing using measuring cups to crafting their own chocolate-covered pretzels, here are 10 nutrition activities for preschoolers. 

Apple Smiles Snacks for Kids 

Turning snacktime into a silly activity that also works on fine motor skills is easy with this apple smiles snack. Provide preschoolers with slices of red apple, a dollop of cream cheese, and a handful of mini marshmallows. Students can use a plastic spoon to safely spread the cream cheese onto the apple slices and then stick the marshmallows into the cream cheese creating “teeth”. Place another cream-cheese-covered slice on top of the marshmallows to create the “smile”. Take photos of preschoolers with their funny apple smiles to display in the classroom and let everyone eat their tasty snack. 

Easy Chocolate-Covered Pretzel Recipe 

Creating a simple recipe with the class is a delightful way to introduce children to cooking while giving them a sense of accomplishment. They’ll be so proud to create their own chocolate-covered pretzels with this easy recipe. Prepare the chocolate by melting it in the microwave and help preschoolers dip pretzel rods into the mixture. Lay out sheets of wax paper for kids to work on and provide a few toppings to coat their pretzels. Sprinkles, colored sugars, chopped nuts, and small candies are all great options. The pretzels will harden after spending about 15 minutes in the refrigerator, and preschool students can eat them together or bring them home in a plastic baggie to show their families.  

This fun and engaging Fruit and Veg art activity from Preschool With a Purpose will delight your preschoolers. Use fruits and veggies to make artful creations and then eat up! Download this free printable!

Scissor Salad 

Little ones can practice their cutting skills and gain fine motor practice by making a scissor salad. Discuss with preschoolers all the brightly colored vegetables that make up a salad, then set them up with colorful paper, a paper plate, and a pair of safety scissors. Kids can make the “lettuce” by tearing strips of green paper into small pieces. They can also cut out vegetables in different shapes and colors - small bits of orange paper can be shredded carrots, red circles can be tomatoes, and so on. Kids can glue their “salad” to the paper plate or bring the cuttings home in a plastic baggie to demonstrate their salad at home.  

Veggie Scrubbing Sensory Table 

Preschoolers love to help in the kitchen, and if they’ve seen their caregivers washing up vegetables before cooking, this veggie scrubbing sensory table will be a huge hit. Set up a bin of soapy water, some scrub brushes, and plastic fruits and veggies to let students imitate this important kitchen task while getting in some water play-time.  

Restaurant Dramatic Play Center 

There are so many concepts for preschoolers to work on in a restaurant dramatic play center. They can hone their math skills by adding up the prices of each menu item, their literacy skills by using menus, and their social skills by placing and taking “orders” from their classmates. They can also learn about different types of food, what they look like, and how they may be served. Stock this center with play food, plates, paper and writing implements, menus, and aprons for the cooks and servers. Kids will be delighted to wait on each other, place orders, and talk about their favorite meals.  

Eat A Rainbow Nutrition Activity  

It’s important for preschoolers to learn about how food fuels their bodies, giving them energy to dance and play, as well as keeping them as healthy as can be. Teaching children how to “eat the rainbow” is a great activity to reinforce their knowledge of colors as well as teaching a lesson on the benefits of each color of food. Set up a “rainbow” made of construction paper and cut out several pictures of brightly-colored foods from clip art, magazines, and newspapers. Work as a class to discuss which foods belong in each color of the rainbow and how those colors benefit our bodies. For example, leafy green veggies can help us fight a cold and have lots of energy so we can play outside with our friends. Keeping the focus on what foods can help us do, instead of which foods are “good” or “bad”, is important in helping preschoolers form a healthy attitude around nutrition and the foods they put in their bodies.  

Food Group Sorting Lesson 

Teach preschoolers about food groups using posters of each group and play food. Discuss each group and give examples of foods that are in those groups. Hand out different pretend foods for each student to observe, and hold up food group posters showing examples of where each students’ food belongs. You can attach the poster to a plastic bin and have preschoolers with the correct food come place it in the corresponding bin. This can also become a learning station later in the week with the foods set out along with the posters and bins, allowing preschoolers to reinforce what they learned by sorting the foods themselves.  

“I Like to Eat” Class Activity  

Learning about nutrition means discussing our favorite foods and learning about what our friends like too. For this “I like to eat” activity, give each student a brown paper lunch bag and provide pictures of different foods from grocery store ads, clip-art, and magazines as well as food wrappers, bags, and lids. Encourage preschoolers to save food packaging themselves to bring to class or from their own lunches, if they eat lunch in the classroom. Have children select their favorite foods and glue them to their brown paper lunch bags. Affix a printable that reads, “I like to eat” and leave space for preschoolers to proudly write their own name. Display the paper bags in the classroom or cut holes in them to create a binder book that preschoolers can look through to see their work.  

Fruit and Veggie Building 

For this fruit and veggie building activity, provide toothpicks, paper plates, and trays of cut up fruits and veggies and instruct preschoolers to use the foods and toothpicks to build. This project could just as easily be completed with other foods including marshmallows, cheeses, chunks of bread, and meats. Let their imaginations do the work – they could try making a structure that stands on its own, a robot or person, or just make a pattern alternating fruits and veggies. At the end, students can take their structures apart and have a healthy snack. This activity helps hone math and STEM skills, letting preschoolers experiment with the best ways to make their structure stand up. It also introduces them to healthy foods to try, like broccoli, cut up pieces of apple, cauliflower, grapes, cantaloupe, tomatoes, and more.   

Measuring Practice Sensory Bin 

Measuring ingredients is an important part of cooking, and an easy task preschoolers can proudly perform on their own. Set up a sensory bin full of whatever food you choose. For example: pieces of cereal, uncooked black-eyed peas, or uncooked pasta or rice are all great choices. Provide several measuring cups and spoons along with a few plastic shovels to allow preschoolers to fill the measuring tools. Students can learn about measurements,  what different amounts of foods look like, and have the satisfaction of filling the measuring tools on their own and dumping them back out. You could also mix in some slightly larger items (small plastic animals or pretend food could work) and ask preschoolers to fill a measuring cup with just those items as fine motor skill and sorting practice. 

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About the Author:

Valerie Williams is a seasoned writer and editor who has spent her career creating content in the parenting and women's wellness spaces. Her bylines include Scary Mommy, SheKnows, Forbes Health, and others. When she's not helping women and families live their best and healthiest lives, she's spending time with her husband and teen kids, walking her dogs, reading, cooking, or attending HIIT classes at the gym.