TRACKS
Lesson Plan
Fruits and Vegetables
Fruits and Vegetables
Special Needs Students – All Grades
I. Nutrition Education Objective:
Goal 1: Students will comprehend concepts consistent with USDA guidance related to eating
and physical activity for good health.
Objective: As a result of Pennsylvania’s SNAP-Ed plan, student will know,
understand, analyze and apply concepts, as developmentally appropriate, that are
consistent with USDA guidance about the benefits of:
1. Eating a variety of whole grain products, fruits and vegetables, low fat milk,
and calcium-rich foods for meals and/or snacks
2. Eating foods that are high in fiber
3. Eating healthy snacks
II. Pennsylvania Educational Standards:
A. 11.3 Food Science and Nutrition
B. 1.6 Speaking and Listening
C. 10.1 Concepts of Health
D. 10.2 Healthful Living
III. Outcomes
A. Students will name a variety of vegetables and fruits.
B. Students will describe the relationship between vegetable/fruit consumption and health.
C. Students will prepare a healthy snack using vegetables/fruit.
D. Students will define the amount of fruits and vegetables recommended per day according
to MyPlate.
IV. Materials
A. Visuals: MyPlate poster, Fruit and Vegetable Posters (More matters graphics), Fruit &
Vegetable Flash cards
B. Activities: Listed in Developmental Section under Procedure
C. Food Tasting
D. Supplies: as needed to prepare and serve food tasting
E. Gloves
F. Hand wipes/gel
G. Reinforcement that conveys the appropriate nutrition message
H. Caregiver Newsletter: Vegetables and Your Health or Fruit and Your Health
I. Extension lessons (noted at end of lesson)
Drexel University, SN- FV Lesson Plan, rev 8/14 page 1
V. Procedure
This particular lesson can be split into one lesson on fruits and one lesson on vegetables,
or can be taught as a combination of fruits and vegetables.
A. Introductory
1. Welcome
a. Welcome students to this nutrition lesson, Review last lesson –if
applicable
b. Introduce yourself and the topic of the day – “Fruits and vegetables”.
2. Icebreakers (1 of the following 3):
a. Hot Banana - Form a circle. Pass around an object such as a fruit or
vegetable Seedie. The person who catches the object names 1 fruit or
vegetable. Continue the game, with the next person naming a different
fruit or vegetable, and so on. Goal is for everyone to get a turn and
without repeating the same food twice.
b. My Favorite - Give each student a blank sheet of paper. Ask them to
draw their favorite fruit or vegetable.
c. Puzzle Pieces
i. Cut pictures of fruits and/or vegetables into various, large pieces
(create puzzles)
ii. Distribute one piece to each student.
iii. Have students go around the room and try to find other students
with pieces to the same puzzle.
iv. The object is to get all the puzzles put together.
v. Have students work in teams or as 1 group if the class is small.
2. Discussion – What counts as a fruit? What counts as a vegetable?
a. Begin by naming some fruits.
b. Look at the MyPlate poster to see what fits into the fruit and vegetable
food groups.
c. Point out that fresh/raw fruits, 100% juice, dried, canned, and frozen all
count as a fruit in this group.
d. Point out that vegetables juiced, canned and frozen all count as a
vegetable in this food group.
3. Why do we need to eat fruits and vegetables?
a. They have lots of vitamins and minerals that are important for keeping
us healthy.
b. Help the heart (antioxidants), brain (better memory), eyes (Vitamin A),
bones and teeth (Calcium)
c. May help us prevent certain diseases like colds (Vitamin C) and maybe
even serious diseases like cancer
d. Help us grow properly
e. Help us digest our food (fiber)
Drexel University, SN- FV Lesson Plan, rev 8/14 page 2
f. Have very few calories and very little fat, both things that are very
important to keep low in our diets. Too many calories and too much
unhealthy fat can lead to weight gain and heart diseases
4. How many do we need to eat each day?
a. Remember “More matters”
b. We should get a mixture of 5 fruits (2) and vegetables (3) every day.
c. Five would be great, but more than 5 is even better. Don’t stop at 5!!
5. Eat your colors
a. There are five color groups: Red, blue/purple, orange/yellow, white, and
green. Show a More matters graphic for clarification.
b. Each of these color groups have different nutrients that make us healthy
so it is important to make sure we get some of each and don’t leave any
colors out.
B. Developmental
Activities are marked high functional (HF), low functional (LF), or both for a quick
guide, however, it may vary depending on class. At least one of the following activities
should be completed during the lesson. More than one is appropriate if time allows.
Activities should be selected based on the needs and skill level of your students. Refer to
the explanations of each activity at the end of the main lesson plan.
Activity 1 (HF): Name the Fruit or Vegetable worksheet
Activity 2 (LF): What Color is Your Plate?
C. Concluding
1. Review concepts from the lesson and activities.
2. Encourage students to remember all the things they have learned today. Try to eat
5 fruits and vegetables every day and make sure you eat lots of different colors.
D. Food Tasting
1. Students should wash hands or use antibacterial wipes/gel if no sink is available.
2. If students are helping prepare the snack, distribute gloves.
3. Prepare and distribute food tasting.
4. Clean up area properly.
VI. Conclusion
A. Thank the participants for their time and answer any questions they may have.
B. Distribute caregiver newsletter.
C. Distribute reinforcements and explain the reasoning for the reinforcement.
D. Remind teacher of extension lessons that correspond with this lesson in their binder.
VII. Extension lessons (Located in Special Needs Binder)
These activities should be given to the classroom teacher for use after the lesson. The
material will reinforce the concepts learned during this fruit and/or vegetable lesson.
They can also be used during the lesson if desired.
Drexel University, SN- FV Lesson Plan, rev 8/14 page 3
Activity 1 Lesson Plan
Name the Fruit or Vegetable
Materials Needed:
• Name the fruit or vegetable worksheets
Procedure:
1. Give each student a worksheet
2. Give students a certain amount of time to name as many fruits and vegetables
as they can.
3. When the time is up, have the students count how many they got. Review the
answers to see if they were correct. If desired, a prize can be given to the
student who identified the most correctly.
4. ALTERNATE PLAN: Have the students work together in one group or as teams
Drexel University, SN- FV Lesson Plan, rev 8/14 page 4
Name the Fruit or Vegetable
1. 2. 3. 4.
5. 6. 7. 8.
9. 10. 11. 12.
Drexel University, SN- FV Lesson Plan, rev 8/14
page 5
Activity 2 Lesson Plan
What Color is Your Plate?
Materials Needed:
• Large size paper plates (one per participant)
• 2 or 3 inch squares of construction paper (white, brown, tan, green, red, orange,
yellow, blue, pink, purple)
Procedure:
1. Distribute one paper plate to each participant.
2. Place a basket or plate of construction paper squares in center of table or workspace.
3. Ask participants to think about what they ate for dinner last night (or the last meal they
can remember)
4. Students should choose squares to represent the colors of the foods they consumed the
prior evening. For instance, pork chops and mashed potatoes would be represented by a
brown square and a white square. Be sure to include dessert and drinks also.
5. Optional: students can write the name of the food or drink they ate on the square and
mount it on the plate.
6. Ask the participants to remove any squares which represent “sometimes foods”, such as
chips, fruit drinks, soda, candy or cake. Are there any foods left?
7. Also ask the participants to look at the colors on the plate, especially those that
represent fruits and vegetables. The colors remaining can help provide a guide for
evaluating their fruit/vegetable intake. The more color, the better. Aim for at least 2
colors in the meal since each color provides different vitamins and minerals.
8. Trade suggestions on how to improve the fruit/vegetable intake at that meal.
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