SNACK

NDI-NM’s HIP to Be Fit ® SNACK (Student Nutrition Activity Curriculum for Kids) incorporates a nutrition component into the NDI-NM program. This includes introducing materials into the NDI-NM class as well as creating supplemental materials for classroom teachers to reinforce messages around nutrition and physical activity.

SNACK is incorporated on a weekly basis in the NDI-NM classroom and is designed to encourage students to eat more fruits and vegetables and to be more active. With students, each teacher develops a nutrition and fitness poster that guides the class throughout the year. NDI-NM teachers continually reinforce the importance of healthy eating. For example, after talking about how different foods make your body feel differently, a teacher may ask students to move like they just ate a huge bag of potato chips, then ask them to move like they ate a healthy snack like a banana.

Working with Santa Fe Public Schools' Student Nutrition Department and a Task Force of local classroom and PE teachers, nursing staff, and Cooking with Kids staff, NDI-NM developed a curriculum that promotes nutrition and is linked to education and health standards. Contents include: basic nutrition information (USDA food pyramid, what is a serving size, why nutrition matters), a series of lessons and activities tied to education standards, recipes for healthy snacks and weekly calendars to track fruit, vegetable and snack consumption and physical activity. A resource guide of websites, books, and materials for students, parents, and teachers is also part of SNACK.

Click here to download SNACK (Student Nutrition Activity Curriculum for Kids).
Click here to download the Resource Guide.

NDI-NM After-School SNACK Nutrition Club

NDI-NM has provided an after-school nutrition and movement program at Kaune, Salazar and Agua Fria Elementary Schools in Santa Fe and is currently providing the program at Aspen Community Magnet School. Using NDI-NM’s dance methodology and its HIP to Be Fit® Student Nutrition Activity Curriculum for Kids (SNACK), an NDI-NM instructor and an NDI-NM pianist engage students in fun, physical activity while teaching them about good nutrition and making healthy choices. The program also incorporates the NDI-NM Core Four: Work hard, Do your best, Never give up and Be healthy; and much of the NDI-NM in- school curriculum, emphasizing Hip to Be Fit® activities.

Examples of the curriculum include teaching the children a “Chicken Soup” dance with steps that represent the ingredients: Boiling water, Carrots, Potatoes, Celery and Chicken. A discussion regarding fresh, homemade ingredients vs. processed foods follows this activity. The children also learn the “mirror game” and “circle rhythm game,” incorporating fruits and vegetables into the activities. Students learn about calories and the Five Food Groups using the US government’s food pyramid. Children participate in an NDI-NM Olympics game competing for a Gold medal in different activities and play the “Race to the Pyramid” game requiring that they know the Five Food Groups while getting vigorous exercise. They are introduced to food labels, comparing snacks by reviewing the nutritional value as well as the calories, making a special note of the serving size. Students taste three or four different varieties of apples, berries and pears and graph their results. A healthy snack is always served.

Students also learn about burning calories. NDI-NM activities that build flexibility, endurance, balance and core strength are used throughout the program in warm-ups, and dance activities. For example, one dance that is taught improves core strength, endurance, and flexibility. Students also learn about heart rate and how to take their own pulse rates. The differences between resting, moderate and vigorous activities are noted.