Healthy living project ideas for the county fair: Part 1

Michelle Neff<hydemich@msu.edu>, Michigan State University Extension -

Spring is here, which means youth are beginning to work on summer fair projects. This article explores ways youth can incorporate healthy living projects in to county fairs.

Many county fairs offer youth the opportunity to exhibit projects that are smaller and non-living through still exhibits or home arts sections. Example of these exhibits include: crafts, arts, sewing, gardening, food preservation, photography, cooking and educational projects.

Educational projects are a great way for youth to incorporate healthy living projects into the fair. These could be educational posters or displays. Part one of this series will explore various healthy living educational project ideas that could be exhibited at the fair.

Healthy living ideas include:

  • Creating a restaurant brochure of healthy choices, noting calories.
  • Researching the effects of different food additives or sugar substitutes and creating a display of the results.
  • Exploring different food borne illnesses and how to prevent getting them.  
  • Picking a nutrient and do researching why it is important.
  • A display on healthy food choices versus unhealthy food choices.
  • Posters on different exercises and how many calories they burn.
  • Exploring what healthy foods do to the human body.
  • Offering healthy eating ideas in the age of processed foods.
  • Creating a display about specific food content.
  • Creating a display that shows the benefit of local foods.
  • Creating a display that discusses the importance of eating whole foods and how 4-H members can grow them theirselves.
  • A display which discusses diseases or health issues that can be avoided through healthy food choices and physical activity.
  • Sharing your personal fitness journal.
  • Creating a food journal for the month.
  • A healthy recipes book.

To learn more about incorporating healthy living into your 4-H activities, check out other articles in the Healthy Youth section of the Michigan State University (MSU) Extension website. To learn more about 4-H and how to sign-up, contact your county MSU Extension office.

Other articles in this series: Part 2 and Part 3.

This article was published by Michigan State University Extension. For more information, visit https://extension.msu.edu. To have a digest of information delivered straight to your email inbox, visit https://extension.msu.edu/newsletters. To contact an expert in your area, visit https://extension.msu.edu/experts, or call 888-MSUE4MI (888-678-3464).

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