Check out our FREE Eat Healthy Sunday School Lesson! Kids will learn why God wants us to eat healthy and that the first step to being healthy is eating better. If you put garbage in, you'll get garbage out. The first step to being healthy is eating healthy. Take care of the body God gave you, and you'll have a better chance of staying well.  Physical health won’t make you spiritually healthy, but it will put your mind and body right so that you can grow spiritually. Take care of the body God gave you, and feed it well. This lesson is great for every Children's Ministry, Kids Church, and Sunday School!  And, if you like this lesson we have over 100 more free Sunday School Lessons for Kids! You're also going to want to take a look at our God Strong 4-Week Children's Ministry Curriculum. 

Eat Healthy Sunday School Lesson for Kids:

BOTTOM LINE:

The first step to being healthy is eating healthy.

OBJECTIVE:

Kids will learn why God wants us to eat healthy.

KEY PASSAGE:

Daniel 1. Daniel and his friends reject the king’s food.

MEMORY VERSE:

“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own.”- 1 Corinthians 6:19 (NIV)

SUMMARY:

If you put garbage in, you'll get garbage out. The first step to being healthy is eating healthy. Take care of the body God gave you, and you'll have a better chance of staying well.

SIMPLE PRAYER:

Dear God,

Thank you for Daniel, and the example he set for us. Help us to choose wisely when we eat and to care for our bodies.

In Jesus’name,

Amen

 

MEMORY VERSE

“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own.”- 1 Corinthians 6:19 (NIV)

“Don’t you know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit? The Spirit is in you. You have received him from God. You do not belong to yourselves.”- 1 Corinthians 6:19 (NIrV)

LARGE GROUP:

Divide the room between girls and boys. Have the boys read the memory verse aloud, and then have the girls read it aloud. Who can read the loudest?

SMALL GROUP:

Ask the kids what they think the writer was trying to say when he wrote these words. Then ask them how this verse is connected to today’s story.

 

SKIT

 

TACOS AND TWINKIES

ITEMS NEEDED:

Two tables, a plate of healthy food, tacos, Twinkies, and grape soda

CHARACTER BREAKDOWN:

3M/2F

CHARACTERS:

Lily- a babysitter

Katie- a little girl

Chef in Babylon

Daniel

The King

There are two sets on stage. On one side is a dining table. On the other is a serving table in ancient Babylon. Katie sits at the dining table. Lily enters with a plate of food.

LILY- Here you go, Katie. A nice hot dinner.

KATIE- Yuck!

LILY- What was that?

KATIE- I said, "Yuck!"

LILY- What's the matter? That's a nice healthy meal.

KATIE- It's got veggies on it!

LILY- Yes. Veggies are good for you. Make you grow healthy and strong.

KATIE- I don't want veggies.

LILY- You don't? Well, if you were making the menu, what would you want?

KATIE- Tacos! And Twinkies!

LILY- Tacos and Twinkies?

KATIE- Yeah, tacos and Twinkies! I mean, can you think of a more perfect combination of foods?

LILY- Actually, that reminds me of a story, about a young boy who didn't want to eat his dinner.

KATIE- What did he have to eat? Broccoli and zucchini like me?

LILY- Actually, no. His name was Daniel, and he lived in the palace of the King of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar. And the food he did not want to eat was…

On the other side of the stage, the Chef enters carrying a tray of tacos and Twinkies. He talks in a funny accent.

CHEF- Tacos and Twinkies! Come and getta you tacos and Twinkies! Make you grow big and strong.

Daniel enters with a taco and Twinkie on his plate.

DANIEL- Hi, uhm, I have a question.

CHEF- You wanna more tacos and Twinkies?

DANIEL- Actually, no. I was wondering... can I have something different than tacos and Twinkies?

CHEF- You wanna something different?

DANIEL- Yeah.

CHEF- You no like-a the tacos and Twinkies?

DANIEL- No, I wanted something--

CHEF- Everybody likes the tacos and Twinkies! Look see, (picks up a Twinkie and cuts it open) you take-a the Twinkie, and putta the taco inside. (he puts the taco in the Twinkie and takes a bite)Mmm, everybody love-a the taco and Twinkie!

DANIEL- Well, I was wondering if my friends and I could have something else, like fruits and vegetables.

CHEF- Fruits and vegetables? No! You eat-a the taco and Twinkie!

DANIEL- But why?

CHEF- Because the King say so!

DANIEL- He does?

ASSISTANT- The King like-a the tacos and Twinkies.

DANIEL- I'm sure he does, but you see, we were raised to believe our bodies were the temple of God, and we should care for them by eating better than this.

CHEF- What could be better than tacos and Twinkies?

DANIEL- How about fruits and vegetables? And water instead of the grape soda?

CHEF- You no like-a the grape soda?

DANIEL- We just want to eat something healthier.

ASSISTANT- This is a question for... THE KING!

The King enters.

KING- I am-a the king. What’s-a going on?

DANIEL- Your excellency, I have a request from my friends and me. We are from Israel, and we would like to eat the healthier food we ate in our land instead of the food you feed everyone at the palace.

KING- You no like-a the tacos and Twinkies?

CHEK- He no like-a the tacos and Twinkies.

KING- What about the grape soda?

CHEF- He no like-a the grape soda.

KING- Everyone like-a the grape soda! Everyone like-a the tacos and Twinkies! Look see, (picks up a Twinkie and cuts it open) you take-a the Twinkie, and putta the taco inside. (he puts the taco in the Twinkie and takes a bite)Mmm, everybody love-a the taco and Twinkie!

DANIEL- I know they do. Just give us a chance. Let us eat what we want for ten days, then test us.

KATIE- Well, what happened?

LILY- The king let Daniel and his friends eat the healthier meals for ten days. At the end of that time, he tested Daniel and his friends against the other students.

KING- Well, well, let's-a see. On-a the math test, the taco and Twinkies team scored eighty-nine.

CHEF- All right-a tacos and Twinkies!

KING- And the veggie eaters got... gotta one hundred five.

CHEF- What? How he get one hundred five?

KING- He gotta the extra credit.

CHEF- Oh.

KING- Okay... on the athletic test, tacos and Twinkies did-a ninety-two pushups.

CHEF- All right-a tacos and Twinkies!

KING- And veggies did eighty-nine.

CHEF- All right-a tacos--

KING- Wait! (adds numbers again)He gotta one hundred eighty nine!

CHEF- What???

OFFICIAL- As the king of Babylon, I order that-a all of-a the students will eat-a the veggies and fruits and drink-a the water. No more tacos and Twinkies.

(The King, the Chef, and Daniel exit.)

LILY- So because of Daniel choosing to do the right thing, the students in the house of the King ate healthy food, vegetables and fruits, and drank water instead of grape soda. As a result, the students were smarter and stronger than any that had come before. And Daniel and his friends became important men in the court. Because they ate their veggies, and not tacos and Twinkies.

KATIE- I don't believe that story! They didn't have tacos and Twinkies in the Bible!

The Chef enters, walks to Katie with a taco and Twinkie.

CHEF- You no believe-a the tacos and Twinkies? We love-a the tacos and Twinkies. Look see, (picks up a Twinkie and cuts it open) you take-a the Twinkie, and putta the taco inside. (he puts the taco in the Twinkie and makes Katie takes a bite)Mmm, everybody love-a the taco and Twinkie!

KATIE- You know, Lily, suddenly these veggies look pretty good.

 

OBJECT LESSON

 

ITEMS NEEDED:

A calculator

Begin the lesson by taking number combinations from the kids and adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing.

At some point, enter a math problem wrong. For instance, say “Two plus two,” but hit two plus three instead. Repeat the problem when the kids say you are wrong, hitting the three again. Do it a few times, then go into the lesson.

A calculator is only as right as the information we put into it. If we put the right numbers in, we’ll get the right answer. If we hit the wrong numbers, even by mistake, we will get the problem wrong.

Our bodies work the same way. When we put good foods into our bodies, we will be healthier. We will be in better physical shape, and we will be better equipped to fight disease and infection. If we eat nothing but junk, we’ll get flabby and out of shape, and we’ll be easy pickings for germs.

Eating right isn’t just good for the body. It’s good for the spirit. Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, and we need to keep them in good shape. God wants us to care for our bodies so we will be healthy and better prepared to do His good works.

 

LARGE GROUP GAME

 

NAME THAT SODA

ITEMS NEEDED:

A fruit-flavored soda

INSTRUCTIONS:

Choose two players for this game. Tell the two players that one of them will have a chance to taste a flavored soda. The two players must bid to see how few sips it will take to recognize the flavor. (This is similar to the old game show, Name That Tune.) One kid may start by saying, “I can name that drink in 5 sips.”The other may go to 4 sips. When one player doesn’t want to go any lower, they say, “Name that drink.”

Blindfold the player who will taste the soda and hand it to them. They are allowed only as many sips as they bid. If they guess right, they win. If not, the other player wins.

VARIATION:

You can play best two out of three with older kids.

With younger kids, you can give them options to guess: Is it grape, orange, or strawberry?

WHAT’S THE POINT?

Sodas are a sometimes treat, but not something we should drink all the time. Whether it’s grape, orange, strawberry, whatever, we’re better enjoying the real thing.

 

LARGE GROUP LESSON

BOTTOM LINE:

The first step to being healthy is eating healthy.

OBJECTIVE:

Kids will learn why God wants us to eat healthy.

KEY PASSAGE:

Daniel 1. Daniel and his friends reject the king’s food.

INTRO

Today we’re starting a series that may surprise you. We’re going to talk about something we don’t normally discuss in church, but it’s something very important to God.

We spend a lot of time talking about our spiritual health. We know it’s important to spend time daily with God, reading our Bibles, praying, and serving others. But did you know that it’s also important to take care of our physical health? God gave us amazing bodies that we use to do so many things every day - working, playing, learning, eating, and sleeping. But just as God gave us a command to take care of the world we live in, God also commanded us to care for our bodies.

Our memory verse, 1 Corinthians 6:19 tells us:

Read 1 Corinthians 6:19

If God’s Holy Spirit lives in us, then it’s very important to keep our bodies in shape. None of us wants to live in a sloppy house, and none of us would expect God to do the same. Therefore we need to keep our bodies in good physical condition.

Today’s scripture starts us off by reminding us we need to eat right. It’s not often that you come across kids who actually want to eat fruits and vegetables. It’s even more rare when those kids are choosing fruits and vegetables over things like steak and desserts. But that’s exactly what a boy named Daniel and his three best friends did.

READ Daniel 1

MAIN POINT

Daniel and his buddies were prisoners, captured by the Babylonians when they conquered the nation of Israel. It was a common custom in those days to choose the best and brightest from a conquered people and educate them in the ways of their new country. That’s how Daniel and his friends - whom some of you know as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego - came to live in Nebuchadnezzar’s palace.

The three boys were chosen to be educated in the ways of Babylon. That meant not only learning math and science and language, but also customs. They were offered the finest foods Babylon had to offer, right from the king’s table. But the boys refused! They would not disobey God. They wanted to eat right.

The king’s officials allowed them a trial run, and in the end, they saw that doing things God’s way made everyone healthier. Daniel and his friends probably weren’t very popular with the other boys living in the palace, but all of the boys were healthier as a result of Daniel’s actions.

DRIVE IT HOME

There’s a saying among computer programmers:“Garbage in, garbage out.”It means that if you put bad information into a computer, you’ll get bad information out. The same goes for our bodies. If we eat junk, we’ll become junk. If we eat well, our bodies will be better for it. We’ll be in better shape, and we’ll be better able to fight off illness.

Why is this important to God? Because a healthy body can do so much more for God. Healthy bodies can work harder to serve the Lord. Healthy bodies also have healthy minds that can focus on God and do God’s work. When we eat healthy, we are being wise with the bodies God gave us. We can give him our very best in everything we do, and we can share God’s love with others.

Next time Mom and Dad serve your veggies, remember the story of Daniel. Remember the choice they made, and remember the difference it made for them and the other boys in the palace.

Remember, too, that God wants to use us to spread his love with others. God needs sharp minds and healthy bodies to do his work. He needs a healthy temple for his Holy Spirit to live inside us.

Physical health won’t make you spiritually healthy, but it will put your mind and body right so that you can grow spiritually. Take care of the body God gave you, and feed it well.

CLOSE WITH A SIMPLE PRAYER

Dear God,

Thank you for Daniel, and the example he set for us. Help us to choose wisely when we eat and to care for our bodies.

In Jesus’name,

Amen

 

SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION (K-2ND)

ICEBREAKER

What’s your favorite veggie?

MEMORY VERSE ACTIVITY

1 Corinthians 6:19

Ask the kids what they think the writer was trying to say when he wrote these words. Then ask them how this verse is connected to today’s story.

SMALL GROUP GAME/ACTIVITY

Prepare a veggie tray for the kids, preferably featuring some less common veggies, and let the kids sample a few.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Read Daniel 1

Who was Daniel?

Why was Daniel in the king’s palace?

What food did the king offer Daniel and his friends?

What food did Daniel and his friends ask for?

What happened when Daniel and his friends got the healthy food?

SIMPLE PRAYER

Dear God,

Thank you for the amazing bounty of foods you have given us. Help us to make wise choices and eat right so our bodies and minds will be healthy.

In Jesus’name,

Amen

SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION (3RD-5TH)

ICEBREAKER

What’s your favorite veggie?

MEMORY VERSE ACTIVITY

1 Corinthians 6:19

Ask the kids what they think the writer was trying to say when he wrote these words. Then ask them how this verse is connected to today’s story.

SMALL GROUP GAME/ACTIVITY

Have the kids create a skit about Daniel and his friends.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Read Daniel 1

Why was Daniel taken to the palace in Babylon?

What food did Daniel and his friends ask for?

What happened when Daniel and his friends got the healthy food?

Why is it important to God that we eat right?

What benefits are there to having a healthy mind and body?

SIMPLE PRAYER

Dear God,

Thank you for the amazing bounty of foods you have given us. Help us to make wise choices and eat right so our bodies and minds will be healthy.

In Jesus’name,

Amen

 

For your convenience, you can also download the entire PDF version of this Eat Healthy Children's Ministry Lesson (just click the link). 

Take a look at the links below for other ideas for teaching an Eat Healthy Sunday School Lesson:

Being Healthy - Sunday School Lesson - Middletown Bible church 

Session 1: I Can Be Healthy - Confident Kids

Junk Food Christians - Sermons4Kids