Find fact sheets, coloring pages, family newsletters, bingo cards, and lessons to use with the Pick a Better Snack program.
Note: Programs using the lessons, bingo cards, coloring pages, and family newsletters must read the Partner Guidelines (below) before moving forward.
Pick a Better Snack Lessons
The following lessons are for students in grades K-3 to promote fruit and vegetable consumption and physical activity. They are designed to be taught by a nutrition educator in the classroom once a month and supplemented with the Family Newsletters that the kids get to take home after each lesson. While the lesson in this video is a little shorter, it provides an example of a typical lesson.
The lessons support Iowa's Academic Standards for Health Education and Science. The specific standards are listed in each lesson. Learn more about connections to the science standards and health standards.
The program was evaluated during school year 2022-2023, and overall, parents of children receiving PABS reported improvements in fruit and vegetable consumption and physical activity. This document highlights key findings from the study. To learn more about the efficacy of the program, check out the SNAP-Ed Toolkit.
Pick a Better Snack is a nutrition education program developed by Iowa HHS with federal funds from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education or SNAP-Ed.
The intended audience is elementary students and their parents/caregivers from low-income households. Electronic files for monthly Pick a Better Snack lessons, newsletters, fact sheets, coloring pages, bingo cards and marketing materials may be used for nutrition education purposes, without edits, and are considered part of the “public domain.”
PDF files can be accessed on this page. To request access to editable files or find out more about the program, contact Suzy Wilson, SNAP-Ed Nutrition Consultant, suzy.m.wilson@hhs.iowa.gov.
If an organization requests access to editable files, the following restrictions apply:
Due to licensing agreements between iStock and Getty Images and Iowa HHS, all commercial photos used in Pick a Better Snack lessons, newsletters, fact sheets, coloring pages and bingo cards must be replaced with alternative photos or you must purchase the same photos using a separate license. .
The photos used in the marketing materials—posters, billboards, bookmarks, magnets, stickers, cafeteria clings, retail shelf-talkers and online ads—do not need to be replaced with alternative photos. These materials can only be edited to include other logos, according to items #3-5 below. Additional edits cannot be made.
Iowa HHS and Iowa Nutrition Network logos may be replaced with other logos. The Pick a Better Snack logo must be maintained.
An attribution statement acknowledging Iowa HHS and SNAP must be included on edited files. (Materials were adapted, with permission, from Iowa HHS. Pick a Better Snack™ materials were created with funding from USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program—SNAP.)
Editable files may not be shared with another organization.
Bingo Cards
Pick a Better Snack bingo is all about healthy family fun! Each card includes a variety of seasonally appropriate activities and foods to try. A family achieves bingo by completing a row on the card, vertically, horizontally or diagonally. The cards also features tips and resources to help families be active and eat well.
Have fun with these fruit and vegetable coloring pages! The coloring pages support the Pick a Better Snack monthly lessons. Nutrition educators can use them in the classroom to ease transition times or with after-school and summer nutrition education sessions to reinforce healthy messages. A nutrition educator may choose to just send the pages home, too. The pages were designed to encourage parents and children to color together!
Monthly newsletters are sent home with students to give families ideas for eating healthy and staying active on a tight budget. Newsletters are based on the produce featured in the monthly Pick a Better Snack lessons.
Year 1 (2023-2024)
Use these newsletters with the Year 1 Pick a Better Snack Lessons.
