Summer is officially here! Share some fun and healthy activities for kids and their families/caregivers from Team Nutrition's Summer Food, Summer Moves Resource Kit:

• Make fun and tasty ice cubes
• Play Summer Fruit & Veggie Bingo
• Try picnic games and festive summer foods
• Turn on the music and learn new dance moves

Summer Food Service Program operators may request free printed copies while supplies last. These materials are also available in Spanish.

Looking for a fun at-home activity to do with young kids this summer? Get them cooking with these Look and Cook Recipes from Discover MyPlate! Watch this video for instructions. Try all five recipes! 

Find more Discover MyPlate: Nutrition Education for Kindergarten resources for teachers and families, including two more videos, on our website. For materials that are available in Spanish, click here. 

As part of a cooperative agreement to implement the USDA Food and Nutrition Service’s Healthy Meals Incentives Initiative, Action for Healthy Kids is offering Recognition Awards to celebrate school food authorities that have made significant improvements to the nutritional quality of their school meals. The Recognition Awards will spotlight innovative practices, student and community engagement activities, and strategies schools have used to provide meals that are consistent with the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The Recognition Awards application opened on June 30 and will remain open through School Year 2024-2025. Learn more about the awards categories and criteria at https://healthymealsincentives.org/recognition-awards. 

Crediting Grains in the Child Nutrition Programs Tip Sheets provide guidance on crediting grains in a quick reference format for Program operators across all Child Nutrition Programs (CNP) and are broken down into three topics:

• Part 1: Creditable Grains in Child Nutrition Programs
• Part 2: Identifying Grain Products that are Whole Grain-Rich
• Part 3: Program Requirements

Check out the entire tip sheet series for all five meal components at: fns.usda.gov/tn/crediting-tip-sheets-child-nutrition-programs.

To support the use of traditional Indigenous foods in the CNP, FNS has created a new webpage as an organized hub of technical assistance resources and policy guidance. This new webpage, Serving Traditional Indigenous Foods in Child Nutrition Programs, houses relevant policy guidance and resources such as the Food Buying Guide for Child Nutrition Programs (FBG), which allows users to search for traditional Indigenous foods and view yield data for similar foods. Updates to the policy memo, Child Nutrition Programs and Traditional Foods, can be expected soon!      

State agencies, Program operators, and sponsoring organizations that participate in the CNP can request free print copies of our materials, including fun family activity guides, posters, and school meals guides, while supplies last. 

Family Summer Activity Guides

• Let's Celebrate Summer Meals Activity Guide for Families: English | Spanish

Posters

• MyPlate for Kids: Make Half Your Plate Fruits & Veggies
• MyPlate Poster: blue/magenta | green/yellow
• Summer Food, Summer Moves Poster Set: English and Spanish

School Meals Guides

• A Guide to Smart Snacks in School
• Best Practices for Reducing Added Sugars at School Breakfast
• Guide to Professional Standards for School Nutrition Programs: Kit | Brochure 
• Offering Meats and Meat Alternates at School Breakfast: English | Spanish
• Offering Smoothies as Part of Reimbursable School Meals