5-2-1-0: Eating through the Rainbow

Eating through the Rainbow…what a fun way to inspire kids to eat different colors of fruits and vegetables! As part of the 5-2-1-0 program that I recently blogged about, my daughter’s primary school, along with the School Nutrition Program, participated in this 5-2-1-0 activity: Eating through the Rainbow.

The focus of this was on the number five, “5 or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day.” Each day was designated with a color of the rainbow. In the cafeteria, the hot lunches featured a fruit/vegetable of that color and if children were bringing lunch from home, parents were asked to send in a fruit/vegetable of that color. The cafeteria was playing the “1-2-3-4-5 a day, that’s the fruit and vegetable way” song as they ate lunch and focused on their fruits and veggies. The kids were also encouraged to wear clothes that were the color of the day! It was such a fun way to help develop healthy eating habits.
 

My kids all were very excited to take this on and we sat down the week before to make the shopping list. My oldest got the paper and took notes as we all brainstormed our favorite fruits and vegetables for Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue/Purple. As a parent I thought it was a great opportunity to talk about the colors and why it’s important to eat a variety of colors. We also tried to identify a few “new” fruits & vegetables to try the following week. I brought my 3-year-old with me to the grocery store (which is not always a fun experience…as those of you with young ones can imagine) but this week he was so engaged and excited to point out the different colors we had on our list that he cooperated through our entire trip and helped fill our cart full of colors!

• As Monday morning approached, my daughter was very excited and came running downstairs ready for school dressed in her red outfit as the Rainbow Week began. We all started the day with strawberries for breakfast along with red apples and tomatoes during the day. For dinner we even tried a Pomegranate for the first time…at least 1 of my kids liked it!
• DAY 2 was Orange Day which surprisingly was the least favorite color in my house. But, we all had peaches, mango, and orange peppers.
• DAY 3 was Yellow Day which had us all eating bananas. We also ate yellow peppers and summer squash.
• DAY 4 was Green Day which had the biggest list! Everyone loves Honeydew Melon and I think we ate an entire melon for breakfast! We also had Kiwi (a newer fruit), peas, celery, cucumbers, and green peppers! Each child took a vegetable medley of greens to school for snack!
• And, DAY 5 ended Rainbow Week with blue/purple day. My daughter came downstairs on Friday dressed in her sparkly purple shirt and matching skirt (she had been waiting all week to wear this favorite outfit) and we all had a delicious blueberry & blackberry fruit salad for breakfast along with red bliss potatoes for dinner.
   

Rainbow Week was such a fun way to have my kids excited about eating so many fruits and vegetables and I am proud to say that we ate 19 different ones. Over that weekend we even came up with some other things we wanted to try (plums, mandarin oranges, zucchini, & lima beans). Yes, I am a proud parent to report that my kids ASKED to try Lima Beans because it could be a new green to add to our list! I think this is something we could do on a more regular basis to have us talking about the colors and adding/trying new ones.

What are strategies you use to add a variety of colors into you and your family's diet?
 
 

by KimG on 02/16/2012 | Share Story With a Friend

tags: motivation, strategies, kids, mommy blog, nutrition