Ice Breakers
Teachers: Please choose from any of the warm-up activities below as a way to begin each Veggie IQ Module, or create your own!
These warm-ups are intended to get students moving, think about fruits and vegetables in a new way, and increase student engagement and interest in the module to come. Feel free to adapt the following activities to best meet the needs of your students.
Warm-Up Options for Grades K-3
• Veggie Name Game: Ask students to think of a vegetable that starts with the same first letter as their name. Go around the room and everyone introduces themselves, (i.e., Strawberry Sam, Mango Maria, etc…)
- Optional expansion: the number of letters in their fruit/vegetable is the number of jumping jacks they have to do!
• Dance Party: Make a list of songs, have students vote for the most popular. Play the most voted song and let them dance their hearts out!
• Light Yoga and Stretches: You might need to clear some space, or move outdoors for this warm up. This video features slightly energetic music, animated images, and a mix of easy/ moderately challenging stretches for kids. Feel free to play the video on its own, or lead the class through this warm-up with the video on your phone. Either way, join in on the fun!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QErBojJvCMI
• Breathing Warm Up: Lead students through some breathing exercises.
- 4 In, 4 Out: 4 seconds in, hold for 4 seconds, breath out for 4 seconds, hold for 4 seconds. Repeat 4x.
• Highs and Lows: Ask students to talk about a highlight (something good that recently happened, something they are proud of, etc.) and a lowlight (something that is challenging or difficult).
• Mirroring: Break the class into partners. This is a two-member game in which the kids take turns to mirror the actions of each other.
- Once each student has a partner, set a time limit of 2 mins.
- Ask one of them to perform activities like moving the arms or feet, or doing simple stretches.
- The other team member follows what the previous one does.
- After two mins the process reverses, and the one child who was performing has to mirror the other child’s activities now.
• Colors Pipe Cleaner Activity: to prepare for this activity, write the following information on a large piece of chart paper, then cover it until after the activity begins.
- Red—your favorite meal
- Green—something you are excited about
- Blue—a favorite sport, hobby, or activity
- Yellow—favorite fruit or vegetable
- Black—free choice (share anything)
Now, put together a bucket of colored pipe cleaners with the same colors. To begin the activity, pass the bucket around and ask each student to take five pieces, each one a different color. Now, reveal the chart. Give each student a turn to introduce themself and give one fact for each pipe cleaner. After everyone has had a chance, let the students twist their pipe cleaners together to make a bracelet, necklace, or headband.
Warm-Up Options for Grades 4-8
• Veggie Hangman: You get to pick a fruit/vegetable and have the class take turns guessing. For each incorrect guess, the entire class does 5 pushups. If they win the game, they only have to do 10 pushups as a class. If they don’t win, 20!
• Veggie Squats: Ask students to write down the last meal they ate (or snack if it had fruits/veggies). For every plate that doesn’t include fruits or vegetables, the entire class is assigned 5 squats. For every plate that does include fruits and veggies, subtract 5 squats.
• Quick Yoga Warmup: If you have the space, this is a great video to get everyone’s circulation flowing, without increasing the energy in the classroom. Skip to the 15s mark to avoid the intro. Feel free to join in, or lead the students through the video on your own, or alternatively, create your own brief routine!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQFf38xeBww
• Breathing Warm Up: Lead students through some breathing exercises.
- 4 In, 4 Out: slowly breathe in for the count of 4 seconds, hold the breath for 4 seconds, slowly breath out for 4 seconds, and then hold for 4 seconds. Repeat 4x.
• Veggie IQ Spirit Animal: Ask students: what vegetable do you most relate to today and why?
• This and That Game: In this activity, students move to a particular side of the room to represent their opinions on a certain topic. To make this icebreaker work, “yes/no”, “true/false”, or “would you rather X or Y” questions are best. Examples are:
- True or false (teacher indicates the sides of the room that correspond to each answer): I had a healthy breakfast this morning.
- Would you rather only eat sweet foods every day or salty foods every day for the rest of your life?
- Would you rather have to add hot chili to everything you eat or add lemon juice to everything you eat?
- Would you rather only be able to eat home-cooked meals or take out?
- Would you rather give up fruit or give up vegetables?
- Would you rather eat the same thing every day or never be able to eat the same meal twice?
• “Who’s In Your Circle” Game: Ask your students to draw three concentric circles on a piece of paper. Give them a topic related to health (food, snacks, fruits, exercise, etc…) and ask them to write it in the center circle. In the second circle students write “love”, in the third “like”, and outside the circles “don’t like”. Under the topic, students individually choose a specific example to focus on (e.g., enchiladas, bananas, soccer, tennis, etc.). Students then mingle and ask their classmates how they feel about the item they have chosen, writing the students’ names in the circles that correspond to their opinions. Repeat with another topic.
• Time Capsule Goal Setting: Have students write 3 things they hope to accomplish and/or change by the end of the 6-week Veggie IQ program (could be goals or hopes related to healthy lifestyle). Fold up the paper and put it in a large mason jar, to be opened on the last day of the school year to see if they have met their goals!