Food Groups

Looking at food groups is such a fun thing to do. It gives children a real insight into the types of food they eat, and you can use it as an opportunity for taste testing.

For younger children, you can introduce food groups in terms of what they are: There are five basic groups.

Then on an old plate or paper plate, divide it into five with a whiteboard pen board pen and label as the groups – this will easily wash off, and using the sheets below cut out the foods and add them to the plate portion you think they belong too.

Food groups work sheet

You can then ask your child which ones they would like to try and maybe plan a trip to the shop to purchase and hold a little tasting session.

Moving forward with older children, you can then introduce the nutrient food groups.

There are seven basic nutrient food groups. These include:

Each group is needed by the body for different reasons and can be found in different types of foods.

I have included this table for you to use in a sheet below.

Food groups Table

Food Group Activity

Take an empty muffin tin, and in each of segment put a different type of food.

Make some flags using cocktail sticks and paper and label each one with a letter to represent the food group.

Discuss each food describing how it looks and maybe taste it to see if that gives any clues – is it rich or grainy or smooth like dairy? Then stick a flag into the food that it belongs to!

Finally, you could then print out the table above, chop it up and use it as a card for a revision exercise.

Have Fun

Kerry

Last Updated on May 2, 2023 by Emma Vanstone