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It was a great day today 23rd of July 2018 at the Tewksbury Public Library, Tewksbury, MA. I planned, organized and implemented a Heath Fair for children between 10:30 AM and 12:30 PM in the meeting room at the library. We had five main stations:

1. Station 1: MY Plate Arts and Crafts : Children are educated about the components of a healthy plate and that half of our plate need to be fruits and vegetables. They were given a paper plate each with a marker line which marks the middle of the pate. They were encouraged to draw and glue in pictures of a variety of fruits and vegetables as a reminder to consume more of it. Children enjoyed this station and were very creative.
2. Station 2: The Identification of a Variety of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables. In order to increase the familiarity of children with fresh produce. They were asked to match the right name label with the right produce. There was avocado, artichoke, cucumber, lemon, mango, garlic, onion, zucchini, Anise, eggplant, broccoli, cauliflower, summer squash, kiwi and lime. The second component of the station, the child tried to identify different produce by putting his/her hand in a grocery bag without looking. There was lemon, cucumber and avocado.
3. Station 3: The Identification of Fresh and Dried Herbs, Spices, Beans and Grains. Children enjoyed looking at the components of different containers. They looked, smelled and touched these different heath foods. The following were available: cinnamon sticks, cinnamon powder, fresh basil, fresh thyme, fresh cilantro, fresh parsley, fresh rosemary, turmeric, sweet red pepper, ground cloves, cardamom, lentils, chickpeas, brown rice, pinto beans, black beans, oregano, cumin and fennel seeds.
4. Station 4: Visual Demonstration of the Sugar Contents in Different Sugar Drinks. Children can measure sugar in teaspoons of different drinks such as coke, Gatorade, Sunny D, Vitamin Water and Tru Moo. I also made fresh smoothies made of strawberries, bananas, mango, peaches and plain Greek yogurt to children and parents. Most of the children and parents oved the smoothie and many asked for more.
5. Station 5: The Movement Area. There were different toys available to entertain the children and encourage them to move such as a movement mat, hula hoops and jumping ropes.

The Town nurse Sarah Kinghorn booked the meeting room, provided the smoothie ingredients and some of the fresh produce. She educated the children about different herbs, spices, beans and grains (station 3).  Sheila Castillo volunteered to coach the children and guide them to make MY Plate arts and crafts. My friend Sarah Manchester coached children in station 2, participated with different fresh produce and educated the children to increase their consumption of fruits and vegetables. Station 5 (the movement station) was loved by children and used continuously throughout the two hours educational fair. Children were given reward stickers with messages about healthy eating. Few children won fresh herbs plants after doing exercise challenges.

Overall, it was a very successful experience and a fun-filled educational program. About 25 children and parents attended the heath fair and many of them stayed an hour or longer. Children left happy, joyful and full of energy. The community has needs for similar health promoting events.

Iman Djarraya, MBChB, BMed Sci, CHC

MPH Nutrition Graduate student at UMass Amherst