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Nutrition Resources:
- Title Pages
- Table of Contents
- Acknowledgements
- About UMKC
- Welcome
- About the Curriculum
- Jump One
- Jump Two
- Jump Three
- Jump Four
- Jump Five
- Jump Six
- Jump Seven
- Jump Eight
- Survey K - 6
- Survey 7 - 8
- Survey 9 - 12
- Educators Questionnaire
- Family Questionnaire
- Completion Certificate
The Jump Into Food and Fitness Program (JIFF) is an integrated curriculum that brings nutritional education and physical fitness education together for youth. JIFF is a research‐based curriculum developed in 2003 by Michigan State University Extension and was designed for use with youth aged 8 to 11 (grades 3 to 5) to help them develop healthier lifestyles that improve their overall wellbeing. Fun nutrition, physical fitness, and food safety learning activities are integrated into the program. Instructors of the curriculum do not need to be experts in nutrition or fitness to work with individuals on JIFF. They can be club advisors, after‐school, and schoolteachers and facilitators in other non‐formal educational settings. JIFF was designed with children's developmental characteristics in mind. The program encourages win‐win situations and keeps youth actively engaged in learning. In addition, this program includes a component that enhances the learning of the youth by having the lessons brought home to the family. There are eight core lessons contained in the JIFF curriculum that are designed for use in 60 to 90 minute meetings. Each session includes:
INTRODUCTORY PAGE: this overview includes the objectives, learning, and life skills that the children will learn.
BACKGROUND BASICS FOR FITNESS AND NUTRITION: this section includes research‐based background information about the unit's content to help instructors feel comfortable with the material as they use the activities with youth.
ICEBREAKERS AND ATTENTION GETTERS: these 5 minute introductory activities help focus the youth's attention and introduce the lesson topic.
LEARNING ACTIVITIES: these 15 to 20 minute main activities teach nutrition and physical fitness concepts. The activity description lists the objectives, learning, and life skills for students; materials needed to run the activity; detailed steps for carrying out the activity; and processing questions to ask the group.
FOCUS ON FOOD SAFETY: this section offers brief information and activities on preparing, serving, and storing food safely to prevent food‐borne disease.
SNACK SUGGESTIONS: this section offers nutritious, tasty, low‐cost, easy‐to‐make snack ideas that feature foods from the food groups or theme covered in the lesson.
FAMILY NEWSLETTER: this reproducible newsletter informs parents and family members of the food, nutrition and fitness concepts explored in each lesson the group has completed.
