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You can download all the early years resources here, or browse through them by theme below:
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Early Years, Primary, Secondary, Recipes, Posters, Workplaces, Welsh resources
General resources
Here are the general resources for use throughout Healthy Eating Week.
Information and resources for each of the Week’s five themes can be found further down this page.
We are grateful to Lidl, Ocado, Tesco, and Waitrose & Partners for supporting Healthy Eating Week.
Healthy Eating Week 2024 for Early Years
The big message for this year’s Healthy Eating Week is ‘Give it a go! ‘
Whether that means having one extra portion of fruit or vegetables a day, being a bit more active, experimenting with a new recipe or using up leftovers - Healthy Eating Week 2024 is all about giving it a go!
The daily themes are:
- Monday: Get at least 5 A DAY - Fresh, frozen, dried and canned all count!
- Tuesday: Stay hydrated - Have about 6-8 drinks a day. Tap water is a great choice.
- Wednesday: Move more - Find ways to be more active every day.
- Thursday: Focus on fibre - Have more wholegrain foods, fruit, vegetables, beans and lentils.
- Friday: Reduce food waste - Aim for the right amount when you shop, cook and eat.
Below you will find a summary of each of the five Healthy Eating Week themes and a KEY ACTIVITY for each one.
For more detailed information about the themes and lots more resources, take a look at the Early Years Guide.
Get at least five a day
Fresh, frozen, dried and canned all count.
Fruit and vegetables are an important part of the diet because they contain vitamins and minerals as well as fibre. We should all aim to have at least five portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables every day. As a general rule, one portion for children is roughly what fits into their palm.
Encouraging young children to eat lots of fruits and vegetables will not only help them get the nutrients they need but will also train their palate to like these foods, which will mean that they will be more likely to eat lots of fruits and vegetables throughout childhood and into adulthood.
KEY ACTIVITY: Find the fruit and vegetables
Help children become more familiar with the wide variety of fruit and vegetables available by using the Find the fruit and vegetable resource. Provide children with a colour copy of sheet showing the fruit and vegetables and use the questions provided to support discussion about the different fruit and vegetables.
Why not complete the Do you know your fruit and vegetables sheet, with the children?
For further Get at least 5 A DAY information and resources, see the Early years Guide.
Stay hydrated
Have about 6-8 drinks a day. Tap water is a great choice.
Our bodies lose water throughout the day in urine and sweat as well as small amounts through breathing. If we do not drink enough fluids, we can become dehydrated. To stay hydrated we need fluid from foods and drinks.
We should have around 6-8 glasses or cups of fluid each day, and more if the weather is hot, or we are exercising, or being active.
Water and milk are the best drinks for children as they do not contain free sugars. Fresh tap water should be available and accessible to children throughout the day, and they should be encouraged to drink water as their main drink.
KEY ACTIVITY: Hydration station
Set up a hydration station using the Hydration station set up guide and Hydration station sign. Encourage children to help themselves to drinks.
Take a look at some of our other resources for getting pupils thinking about drinking!
- Drink pairs
- Water tracker - children can add a blue dot to the water jug every time they have a drink of water.
Move more
Find more ways to be active every day.
Children in early years settings (under 5s) should*:
- be active for at least 3 hours per day
- do a variety of activities, including active and outdoor play
- not be inactive for long periods, except when sleeping.
*NHS - Physical activity guidelines for children (under 5 years)
As well as being physically active, it is also important that children and young people reduce the amount of time spent being inactive, e.g. watching TV, playing computer games, travelling by car (when active travel is an option).
KEY ACTIVITY: Awesome activity
Use the Awesome activity pack in your early years setting to explore different types of activities, and play some games!
Work with the children to complete the Move more bingo sheet, over the next week, to get them focusing on the ways they can move more.
Take a look the Youth Sport Trust Healthy Movers resources.
You may like to try some of the suggestions on the Primary school Move more activity cards.
Focus on fibre
Foods that provide fibre include wholegrain varieties* of starchy foods (such as wholegrain bread, breakfast cereals, brown rice, and wholewheat pasta) and potatoes with their skin on, fruit and vegetables and pulses (such as red kidney beans or lentils). Fibre is important for keeping the digestive system healthy. Most of us need to increase our fibre intake.
*Wholegrain starchy foods should be introduced gradually from 2 years of age because children under 2 can fill up more easily on these bulky foods and may stop eating before they’ve eaten enough energy for their needs.
KEY ACTIVITY: Soda bread
Try this simple Soda bread recipe that uses part white and part wholemeal flour.
Using the Create a super salad sheet for ideas, prepare a selection of salad ingredients (including wholegrain starchy foods, fruit, vegetables and pluses). Invite the children to choose ingredients to create their own salad. Remember to check for allergies, intolerances, and dietary requirements before running this activity.
Reduce food waste
Aim for the right amount when you shop, cook, and eat.
In the UK, households are responsible for 60% of UK food waste. According to Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP)*, the most commonly wasted foods are fresh potatoes, meals (home-made and pre-prepared), bread, and milk.
So much goes into producing our food - water, energy, land, and transport. Reducing the amount of food we waste is therefore important to make our diets more sustainable, not only to help save money but also to save wasting the planet's resources. To help children get the right amount of food and reduce food waste, take a look at the 5532 a-day resource.
KEY ACTIVITY: Food waste or food wasted?
Cut out the images on the first sheet, and display the sheets showing the plate and food waste bin. Show the images one at a time and talk to the children about what they are and whether they could have been eaten, or if they should be in the food waste bin. Attach the images to the appropriate sheet.
Why not display the Food saver tracker and let the children add a green dot to the bowl every time they save food from being wasted? There is space to make a note of food that has been saved.
For further Reduce food waste information and resources, see the Early years Guide.
