Learn with fun! A collection of DIY ideas for food education materials useful in childcare

Last updated:2025/6/3

10 years as a kindergarten teacher / elementary school teacher / junior and senior high school teacher / childminderkepiko
Graduated from Kunitachi College of Music, Faculty of Music (now: Department of Music Culture and Education, Early Childhood Music Education major). In elementary school, my homeroom teacher was Jun Kusaba, a game researcher. After graduating from university, I worked as a kindergarten teacher for 10 years and as an after-school childcare instructor for 7 years, then took a position as a music teacher at an international school in Singapore. In addition to music education, I engaged in activities that introduced Japanese culture, traditional games, and recreational activities, working with many children. Later, through freelance writing, planning, and editing at Shogakukan, I met many delightful adults and experienced the joy of communicating and sharing. Drawing on the perspective cultivated in the field of education and my experience as an editor, I provide practical information with an emphasis on both input and output, mainly in areas related to music and children. My hobbies include instruments, singing, handicrafts, toys, drawing, traditional games, the outdoors, and books. My special skill is spinning-top tricks.

Preschool and kindergarten children are full of curiosity.

This is a time when they want to learn many things.

Food education is an important step.

To help them feel how fun it can be, why not try using homemade teaching materials? Here, we introduce ideas for food education materials that you can easily make with familiar items.

Spend a fun time together learning about food and nutrition through play! Help spark children’s own interest in food and support food education that nurtures their healthy bodies.

Learn While Having Fun! A Collection of DIY Ideas for Nutrition Education Materials Useful in Childcare (1–10)

Sketchbook Theater of Curry and Rice

https://www.tiktok.com/@hannah1000c/video/7479370534254365960

Let’s learn about ingredients and the cooking process! Here are ideas for a sketchbook theater about curry rice.

Many children love curry rice, right? When covering curry rice in food education, why not create a sketchbook theater that can also be used as an introduction? You’ll need a sketchbook, illustrations, glue or double-sided tape, scissors, and so on.

With curry, it seems like a great opportunity to learn what ingredients are used and what steps are involved in making it!

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Playing donut shop

https://www.tiktok.com/@chooobo2/video/7471985311782866183

Learn while you play! Here are some ideas for playing donut shop.

Playing store is a great opportunity for children to enjoy themselves while learning knowledge and habits related to food.

By having fun and developing an interest in food through play, and by dividing roles during play, children can also learn the importance of communication and cooperation with others.

Items to prepare include chopsticks, spoons, vinyl tape, clothespins, milk cartons, packing tape, origami paper, and envelopes.

Give it a try!

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Lion apron theater

https://www.tiktok.com/@hannah1000c/video/7065958459879066882

Make it with felt! Here are some ideas for a lion-themed apron theater.

An apron theater is a puppet show where the apron serves as the stage, and you perform by taking out or sticking on puppets and props.

This time, let’s create a nutrition-themed apron theater featuring a lion.

Using sticker felt and fabric adhesive makes it easy to complete, but if you’re skilled at crafts, you can finish it by hand-sewing or using a sewing machine.

A lion with a big open mouth gobbling up food is sure to become a good friend to the children.

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Let’s look at the insides of fruits & fruit punch

@kazenomori.piconursery
The aim is to let them experience a variety of ingredients and spark their interest in different kinds of food!#Nursery school A day at the nursery Nursery teacher / Childcare worker Dietitian Food Education cross section Fruits #Pico Nursery
♬ JUICY (Chorus ver.) – Snow Man

Fun from age 1! Let’s take a look at the “tummies” of fruits and share fruit punch ideas.

Calling the cross-sections you see when you cut fruit their “tummies” is such a cute expression, isn’t it? This time, let’s make fruit punch while cutting the fruit right in front of the children.

By actually seeing the cross-sections, kids can connect the shapes of the fruits they regularly eat with the complete images of fruits they see in illustrations.

Try incorporating this unique, hands-on food education activity!

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Paper puppet show of Rock-Paper-Scissors with roasted sweet potatoes

@piyopiyo_hoiku7
Is making things by hand the standard in practicums? I’m totally fine with buying them. What matters is how you perform for the children, how you communicate, and how you conduct childcare.Nursery teacher / Childcare worker Panel Theater Childcare Pape-sart (paper puppet theater)Packing
Kanata Haluka – RADWIMPS

Recommended for autumn! Here are some ideas for a paper puppet show of “Yakiimo Goo-Choki-Pa.” The traditional children’s song “Yakiimo Goo-Choki-Pa,” long loved as a hand-play activity, uses rock, scissors, and paper hand shapes to pretend to make and eat roasted sweet potatoes.

This time, let’s try a paper puppet show.

A paper puppet show (peep-show style) is a type of paper doll theater made by drawing different illustrations on two sheets of paper, sandwiching a chopstick or popsicle stick between them, and gluing them together.

It’s fun because you can change the illustration with a simple flip.

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