Teach Students   Create a Healthy Classroom Set up a healthy classroom environment at the start of the school year to support academic success

Develop a classroom/school-wide Snack Policy and Healthy Eating Pledges

• Write a classroom healthy snack ‘policy’

Lesson Plan for Writing a Classroom Snack ‘Policy’ (pdf)

• Help students compose a Healthy Pledge
  

  My Pledge | My Pledge K-1 (pdfs)
  See students In Action with Healthy Eating Pledges
  

• Write a school wide policy:
  
  
  • Sample school Birthday Party Policy (doc)
  • Sample school Snack Policy Brochure (pdf)
  • Sample school Snack Policy (doc)

Celebrate special days with healthier food choices

• Serve Healthier Snack Alternatives for classroom celebrations—a guideline for teachers and families
  

  English | Chinese | Spanish (pdfs)

• Promote non-food Halloween Treats
  

  English | Chinese | Spanish (pdfs)

• Have a Heart Healthy Valentine's Day. Make your classroom party candy-free & physically active
  

  English | Spanish (pdfs)
  Sample lertter

Encourage students to bring healthy classroom snacks

Organize Fresh Fruit Fridays & Veggie Wednesdays
Choose two to three students every week to bring a few pieces of fruit on Fridays or vegetables on Wednesdays. Cut up the fruit or vegetables for a simple snack. Use the attached calendar grids to create a poster and have students sign up. Fruits or vegetables could become part of a lesson or a recipe! (pdfs)

• Fruit Friday Calendar (doc)
• Veggie Wednesday Calendar (doc)

Reward students with non-food rewards

The SFUSD Wellness Policy encourages teachers to reward students with non-food items. Using food and drinks of poor nutritional value as a reward for students may reinforce students’ preferences for them and prove counterproductive to learning programs that promote healthy eating. Changing food rewards can initially be challenging but can be facilitated by involving students in the process of choosing alternatives. Praise and positive reinforcement are the preferred methods in encouraging students to keep up their good work.

Click for non-food reward resources:

• Alternatives to Food as Reward (pdf)
• Say It Without Candy (pdf)

Integrate physical activity into your school day

• Teach district-adopted physical education curriculum: “Quality Daily P.E.” by Robin Reese
• Integrate physical activity with academic concepts. Energizers: Classroom Based Physical Activites (pdf) (from North Carolina's Physical Education website)
• Practice yoga while teacing nutrition. The Shape of Yoga (pdf)