I bought this set to use with a group of cub scouts for a unit about healthy eating. They were supposed to make a food pyramid, but after doing a bit of research, I found that they are now using a format called "My Plate" instead of the traditional food pyramid that we used growing up. The project instructions were to have the boys(1st graders), either cut and glue from magazines, or draw the food, but these days it is hard to find actual magazines since everything is digital, and I did not think that having 6-7 year old boys draw the food was going to go over very well. So I went in search of food stickers here on Amazon, and this is what came up! This sticker set perfect for this since each place mat they give is set up just like the blank print outs that get off the government/education websites for "My Plate", only more fun! I just had the boys draw lines to divide the plate into four parts (this is the format they use for "My Plate"), and then they used the stickers to fill each section with food from the appropriate groups; fruit, vegetables, protein, and grains. There were plenty of stickers to do this adequately, and some of the unhealthy choices were okay, since it challenged the boys to think and choose wisely. I had them label each section with the proper food group too. Although the "My Plate" format does not include dessert, most of the place settings included a small plate, which I told them they could choose one treat for....because after all, we all need a little sweet now and then:) There is a cup on each place setting too, and the drink choices were up for interpretation for sure, but to me they look like a lot of juice and soda options, which was not great for a healthy eating project. The My Plate format calls for low fat milk or water, so I had the boys write next to the cup what they chose. Chocolate milk was acceptable:) The food choices overall we pretty good. Pretty much your standard "all American" food, and so if you are looking for more culturally diverse cuisines, this is not going to give you that. The most "diverse" option I found was a stir fry-like entrée which could be Asian, and there were a handful of ambiguous looking sausage-like meats that could be more considered more "European", but otherwise the food is pretty simple; meat & potatoes and kid friendly for sure. It would have been nice to see more varied options, especially for the vegetables, as I think that many families are eating food these days that is indeed more exciting and diverse. But then again, some of this may not have transferred well to this format, and may have been unrecognizable. Hard to say really. Also, I really wish that the bread/grain options were more clearly whole grain. Most of the breads and grains were clearly pure white. With that said, this is meant to be a toy, and not an educational resource, and so my gripes are more personal and so I would not take stars away, since overall the product is really fun! They give you plenty of big placemats, which handles using this for a small group(15) or to use with your kids multiple times, and lots of big colorful food stickers that are totally appealing for kids. I could see this being good for a family who has a child who is a picky eater, so they can safely consider "trying" new foods....as a step toward actually trying them! It is not labeled as reusable, so not sure why so many people downgraded it for not being so. It is a one shot deal, although after my 3 year old piled a dozen or so stickers one on top of the other in the middle of a plate, I was able to gently peel them off of one another to use on another setting. I used this with 5 cub scouts, then two 3 year olds, then again with two 8 year olds and my 3 year old who each made 1-3 placemats, and even after the placemats were gone, there are still stickers left. So I would say this is a great value with plenty to do without them being reusable. Overall, a fun sticker project to use at home, and totally great too for use in the classroom, or with a church, scouting, or recreation group. It was a really fun, clean, and effective way to cover the requirements for a healthy eating project, and the finished product looked really good and the boys had a great time and were proud of their plate they made! The "My Plate" concept is more fun and relatable for kids than the old food pyramid format, and this sticker book really was perfect.
