Early Childhood
Additional supporting features include:
consider adding these items…
Early Childhood Booster Kit
Nutrition and healthy lifestyle curriculum presented with stories, songs and lots of FUN!
WISERCISE! – Daily 10-minute bouts of physical activity performed while staying on task academically
Foods of the Month posters, buttons and apron for year-round nutrition education
Activity Books (Optional)
(Please note, the Early Childhood DIGITAL Platform contains all of these activity sheets available for download. However, many schools also prefer physical books as an option, if budget allows.)
This prep-free curriculum includes everything an educator needs to keep students on track:
Pricing:
FAQs
What does the Early Childhood Booster Kit include?
The curriculum consists of 8 story books, designed specifically for this young audience. The compilation of materials includes a whole center approach to creating health promotion throughout the child’s day – academic learning, physical activity, meal, and play. These items facilitate the communication of important nutrition and healthy messages in a manner understood by children. Click here to view the curriculum products.
Are there individual student activity books included?
We do offer two Early Childhood activity book options to use along with the Early Childhood curriculum and they are available for purchase (recommended one per student).
• The Heart to Start Activity Book includes companion activities to go along with the 8 story books. (These activity sheets are included as a download if you purchase the Digital Platform subscription.)
• The Foods of the Month coloring book is designed for centers to use each month as reinforcement lessons to go along with the year-long Foods of the Month education. Great take-home activity for families as well.
Each book focuses on different components of the program and if the budget allows, having both items for children and families is ideal.
Is this an evidence-based program?
Yes! The OrganWise Guys Comprehensive School Program (which included Prekindergarten and kindergarten children) was part of the only published longitudinal (multi-year) school-based study to show statistically significantly greater improvements in weight, blood pressure and waist circumference measures, as well as higher standardized test scores, of children in program schools as compared to children who were not. These healthy and smart findings are published in top-tier, peer-reviewed journals – the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, the American Journal of Public Health and the Journal of Healthcare for the Poor and Underserved. Additionally, research was presented at the American Heart Association’s 2015 Epidemiology and Prevention and Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health Scientific Sessions that showed statistically significant improvements (and maintenance) in BMI percentile and waist circumference for children ages 2-5 participating in this childhood obesity prevention intervention.
Click here to view research and request full publications
Are these materials linked to state standards?
Yes! We understand how limited time is for teachers as well as the numerous testing/reporting requirements from state and federal entities. Our goal is to make implementing this program as EASY as possible for teachers. These materials are linked to Early Childhood/Head Start/Preschool standards and can be accessed here.
Are there implementation guides?
Yes! The curriculum comes with easy-to-use implementation guides to assist teachers in program use. Click here to view all guides.
Are there evaluation tools?
There is not a specific curriculum evaluation or pre/post test for this age group at this time. Instead, many centers who use this kit have done food tastings using the Foods of the Month Kit and obtained informal data on food preferences this way. Additionally, we have found that being able to evaluate the educators works well too. Our educator post survey can be found here.
Do you offer Professional Development around The Early Childhood Kit?
Yes, we do! Please call us to discuss your PD needs and we can plan programming for your specific needs.
Are trainings available?
Yes! While this program is very streamlined and easy-to-implement, we recommend a short training to outline how this program can best work for this setting. We have free video trainings which can be viewed/used at anytime (it is also a great overview for you to view while considering this program).
For larger projects (multiple centers), an in-person training by one of our program experts is often requested. To meet this need, we do offer a day rate of $2500 (which includes travel expenses in the U.S.). To decide which option is best for you, do not hesitate to call us at 800-786-1730.
Is this program cost-effective?
Yes! The initial year of program implementation is where the bulk of cost is incurred. The components of the Early Childhood Booster Kit are non-consumable and are designed for years of use. The consumable pieces are the individual student activity books, which are optional (but highly recommended) for each school year and are available at large quantity discounts.
Click here to get a specific quote/estimate for your program needs.
Can the program be rolled out in stages and/or in conjunction with other initiatives?
Absolutely! Again, the program’s success is due in part to its ability to meet project/ budgetary constraints/needs. We know all centers are unique! We have compiled what we believe is the most cost-effective program by combining our best items for this age group and setting. However, all items in the kit are also sold separately to fit into any budget parameters to get started and then can build on programming as budget allows.
As for including OrganWise components into other health programming already in place – again, a resounding YES! The more nutrition and healthy lifestyle education kids receive, the better. We work with a wide variety of partners and programs so if you are helping kids improve their lives WE WANT TO WORK WITH YOU! One of the unique features of these materials (especially our OrganWise Gal/Guy pictured here) is that they can assist in bringing any nutrition and physical activity program to life!
Does this program have a parent component to reach families?
Yes! We understand the importance of helping busy parents incorporate healthy choices into not only their children’s lives, but theirs as well. One way to reach the family is by using the optional Foods of the Month coloring book as a parent/child tool each month. Additionally, the Early Childhood Digital Platform (which many sites use in addition to this kit) includes ready-to-go Foods of the Month monthly newsletters (English/Spanish). These can be printed out and sent home or, if technology allows, centers can post these on their website if they have one.
Are there any free materials?
Yes! To help bring even more OrganWise Guys messaging home, we have developed a free resource page for parents (and kids of all ages) to access for a wide variety of FREE OrganWise Guys items for families to enjoy!
Do the materials come in Spanish?
Yes! All of the 8 story books are available in Spanish. We also have a variety of additional OrganWise Guys items in Spanish, which can be viewed here.
Are grants available for this program?
Yes! A large percentage of The OrganWise Guys programs have been provided to sites thanks to the generous funding from private foundations (large and small), corporate sponsors and as part of the USDA Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP-Ed) in qualifying schools.
Our large network of both funding and implementing partners (nationally and locally), has allowed us to be very successful in assisting eligible organizations to obtain funding for this program in thousands of school across the country. If you are submitting a grant that includes using The OrganWise Guys items as part of the intervention, be sure to contact us for a quote as well as research and language for you to use in your grant submission.
What educators are saying . . .
My experience with The OrganWise Guys has been outstanding. They have excellent customer service and easy to use online resources. The training they offer comes with material that works around our center’s timeline. Over the past few months, our educators have been geared up to learn how The OrganWise Guys will work within our existing environment. A few months back the Atlanta Children’s Shelter was able to receive The OrganWise Guys Kit free of charge. During the summer our educators received the great news and started to think of meaningful ways to use the new center-wide resource for the shelter. Our students participate in Wellness Wednesday’s which includes learning about health through different programs and using tools that spark the children‘s interest. The OrganWise Guys program has been used to teach the students all about the inside of their bodies while learning how to keep the outside of their bodies healthy as well. The children are able to see their organs in a fun way through adorable characters and this helps to teach them what their organs actually do. The OrganWise Guys program teaches or children about nutrition and healthy living and how important that is in their daily lives. Our agency is so honored to be able to use the supportive online feature to gain resources, lessons, posters, data and other tools needed to enhance our classroom interaction successfully each week. If you are looking for a learning tool to promote children’s health and studies related to their bodies this is the resource for your center. The OrganWise Guys help educators make learning fun by using puppets to enhance the children’s ability to focus and provide material to promote easy learning. Thank you to The OrgansWise Guys for their willingness to offer their amazing programs to all children. – Billie Walker, Childcare Director, Atlanta Children’s Shelter
“Children can be very picky eaters and it can be a struggle to get them to eat anything new. We praised them each time they ate raw vegetables and explain how healthy they look. The kids really enjoyed tasting different foods.” ~ Early Childhood Educator, City of Jackson, MS
“We have incorporated more physical play by more team building games. Also we incorporate our morning OWG outside to give students more physical activity” ~Early Childhood Educator, City of Jackson, MS
“They get very excited about watching and identifying Organ Annie and naming all the organs. The students have been introduced to more physical exercises that could be done. They do talk about all the different exercises that could help them while playing” ~Early Childhood Educator, City of Jackson, MS