Breakfast Basics - Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board (WMMB)

Breakfast Basics
Grade Level: Kindergarten-3rd Grade
Lesson Overview
School breakfast provides a nutritious morning meal that meets one-fourth of
children’s daily needs for calories and key nutrients, including calcium. This
lesson will help you teach students the importance of breakfast and also
introduce your school breakfast program.
Objective
Students will be able to:
• Understand the importance of eating breakfast
• Choose healthy breakfast options
• Understand your school’s breakfast program and its offerings
Materials and Advanced Preparation
• Review lesson and prepare necessary materials
• Consider presenting in cafeteria immediately after breakfast to demonstrate
set-up
• Bring a copy of your school’s breakfast menu
• Copies of parent letter and bingo sheet for each student
• Serve school breakfast for entire classroom (optional)
• Copy of food pyramid (optional): available at www.mypyramid.gov
Breakfast Basics Lesson
Start your lesson with a breakfast discussion. Consider asking these questions:
• How many of you eat breakfast every day?
• Why is breakfast the most important meal of the day? (Breakfast means
“break the fast.” It’s been at least 10 hours since we last ate and our body needs
fuel for energy to get through the day)
• Ask students to describe how they feel when they are hungry (tired, grouchy,
headache, stomach hurts)
• Did you know you can eat breakfast at school? (Use this time to showcase your
breakfast program by explaining or showing students where it is served and how
it works. Bring samples of breakfast foods such as the kinds of cereals you serve,
or bring samples for students to try.)
• Explain the importance of choosing foods that are healthy and provide nutrients
for growth. Ask students to put their heads on their desks and raise their hands
if they think the following breakfast choices are healthy ones. Slowly read each
each option:
1. Cereal, milk and an apple (yes)
2. Large chocolate donut and can of soda (no)
3. Granola bar, yogurt and orange juice (yes)
4. Coffee and two sugar cookies (no)
5. Skipping breakfast (no)
6. Breakfast pizza and low fat milk (yes)
©2006 Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board

Classroom Activity #1 Breakfast Bingo
Note: All students will be winners since they will all have the same
bingo card!
• Run off bingo cards for each student, plus one extra card
• Cut up one sheet so you have individual squares for each food (You will
use these to call out each breakfast item)
• Use cereal as markers
• For the younger students, call out one row
• For the older students, cover the entire card
• When everyone shouts out “BINGO” tell them they are all winners and
hand out prizes to everyone. (Consider giving each student a coupon for
a free school breakfast or contact your Wisconsin Dairy Council Regional
Program Manager for small prizes)
Classroom Activity #2 (Optional for older students)
Divide classroom into groups of 3-4 students. Ask each group to come up
with a breakfast menu for one day. Depending on age level you can encourage
them to choose foods from each of the four categories below or even
make a drawing.
1. Milk
2. Fruit/Vegetable
3. Grain
4. Meat/Protein
When each group has completed
this assignment, ask them to
present to the class and discuss
whether or not each group has
a healthy breakfast. Have the
class vote on their favorite breakfast
and use it as one of your
future breakfast menus, giving
credit to the students who wrote it.
Going Further
Activities
• Hold an all-school
breakfast during
National Breakfast Week
or once a semester
• Make copies of parent
letter on your school’s
letterhead and distribute
to students
• Designate one day a
month as “Special Guests
Day” when students can
bring a parent, grandparent,
bus driver or
someone special to
breakfast. Set aside and
decorate a special dining
table for students and
guests
• Hold a contest between
classes for breakfast
participation. Reward
the winning classroom
with a breakfast party
with a menu of their
choice
Follow-Up Discussion
• Review the importance of eating
breakfast and the availability of
school breakfast

Breakfast Bingo
Milk
Fruit
Combo
Foods
Grain
Meat &
Beans
Yogurt
Strawberries
Breakfast Pizza
Bagel
Ham
Chocolate
MILK
Chocolate Milk
Grapes
Cereal with Milk
Granola Bar
Eggs
FREE!
Peanut
Butter
String Cheese
Orange Juice
Pancake
Peanut Butter
Strawberry
MILK
Strawberry Milk
Blueberries
Breakfast
Sandwich
Cereal
Bacon
Peanut
Butter Jelly
MILK
White Milk
Apple
Peanut Butter
& Jelly
French Toast
Sticks
Sausage
©2006 Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board

Dear Parent,
Your child recently participated in a Breakfast Basics lesson to learn
about the importance of breakfast both for health and classroom
achievement.
A healthy breakfast whether at home or at school, is an essential part
of being prepared to learn. Today’s fast-paced lifestyles sometimes
prevent children from sitting down to a balanced breakfast before
heading off to school. If that’s the case in your house, give school
breakfast a try!
Our school breakfast provides a convenient and nutritious morning
meal that meets one-fourth of children’s daily needs for calories and
key nutrients, including calcium.
It also receives high marks for helping children to be more alert,
focused and ready to tackle the day. Studies consistently show that
school breakfast:
• Helps students score higher on tests and improves grades
• Makes it easier for students to pay attention in class
• Decreases disruptive behavior and visits to the nurse
• Decreases tardiness and absenteeism
We invite you and your child to join us for breakfast anytime!
If you have any questions, feel free to contact our school foodservice
department. We look forward to working together, to help your child
start their day ready to learn.
Sincerely,
©2006 Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board