Snack Art at Rodney Street Tennis

June 22, 2015

Today was a beautiful summer afternoon for nutrition fun in Wilmington’s Rockford Park! Alyssa Antanacio RD, our Community Nutrition Educator, spent the afternoon with kids from the Rodney Street Tennis program. The goal for the one-hour session – learn about healthy snacks and create a Snack Art “cow!”

Gathered around two picnic tables, Alyssa and Lindsey, our summer Nutrition Educator, talked with kids about the importance of eating healthy snacks.

“You need to eat healthy snacks throughout the day, especially since you are playing tennis, to keep your body fueled,” explained Alyssa.

Reviewing the five MyPlate groups, Alyssa shared some healthy snack ideas from each food group. “Kids need to eat 1.5 cups of fruits each day,” as she held up a rubber pear. “And you need 2 cups of vegetables per day,” she pointed out as she held up a serving size of carrots.

“Are those foods real,” questioned one participant. The real-life food items provide a great visual for kids on healthy portion sizes for snacks.

Before the kids began creating an edible cow, they listed some of their favorite healthy snacks. Favorites among this group of aspiring tennis stars, yogurt with fruit, cereal, peanut butter on bread and more.

The highlight of the session was the chance to create a Snack Art cow. Using items from the food groups, kids put together healthy foods to create a fun, healthy and edible project!

They started with a rice cake for the cow’s face. Next, Alyssa instructed the group to spread soy butter on the rice cake so the cow’s ears, eyes and nose would stick. Two pieces of bananas for the horns, a grape cut in half for two little cow ears, an apricot snout, raisins for eyes and two toasty o’s cereal pieces for nostrils!

Viola! A Snack Art cow! Next up, eat the cow!

The kids had a great time learning about how the foods they eat help to make them better tennis players.

Is your organization interested in hosting a nutrition education class for kids? Click here to learn more about the program!

Nutrition Education classes at the Food Bank of Delaware are made possible through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).