Teach Healthy Choices: Food Groups Printable File Folder Game

We’ve turned making healthy choices into a habit at every meal. We simply feed our children veggies first! Before they filled their bellies with all their favorites we made them eat their least favorite. Carrots and peas taste a LOT better when you are really hungry rather than at the end of the meal when you’re full.

The habit has turned their taste buds toward the healthy side and now my kids actually enjoy veggies. In fact, they have no problem eating a plain salad for dinner – no dressing!

Although they’ve already adopted the tradition of eating veggies first, I wanted to teach them more about all the food groups and how they can choose a balanced meal on their own. That way when we’re not at home, like at a party or restaurant, they’ll know what to put on their plate to make a complete meal that gives them the nutrition they need to stay healthy.

So, I made this free printable file folder game with lots of possibilities for learning.

Food Groups Printable File Folder Game

To make your own, simply print off the free food group printable below. Use cardstock to prevent your game pieces from being bent or ruined. You can also laminate them for even more durability. You’ll need a manila folder, scissors, and tape or glue.

*Please do not link directly to the document, but to this post if you want to share. Thank you!

After attaching the plain food pyramid and food plate pages onto the inside of your manila folder, cut out the other images to make a food pyramid puzzle and food group sorting game. I used some clear contact paper to laminate my pieces.

Before playing, explain the food pyramid to your children and talk about the different food groups. Each food group on the pyramid has daily serving sizes. For example, everyday we should eat about 6oz of grains and most of them whole grains like brown rice or whole wheat. If you break that down further, 1oz is about 1 slice of bread.

Pointing out the colors of food matter too. There are lots of different colors of vegetables and fruits and it is good to eat all those colors in our diets because each color represents different kinds of nutrients that are bodies need to grow big and strong.

My daughter loved putting the puzzle together and matching the right food to their category on her plate. You can easily extend the plate activity by having your children draw their own food cards. What are their favorite foods and what food group do they belong to?

When they’re all done playing, clean up is easy with the handy card holder that goes on the front of the folder and keeps all the pieces in one place.