Build-a-Plate: A Hands-On, Modern Way to Teach the Healthy Plate

Teaching the healthy plate works best when people can build it themselves

You can explain half a plate of vegetables, a quarter protein, and a quarter whole grains a dozen ways, but it lands differently when someone gets to build the plate with their own hands. That is the idea behind Build-a-Plate, our new hands-on nutrition teaching kit.

Not the dull food models of decades past

These pieces are bright, colorful, and realistic, so building a healthy plate feels less like a lesson and more like a creation. Every kit includes 20 different items, with multiple pieces of many of the foods, so your clients can build endless plate variations and no two plates have to look alike.

An app that gives them an “A”

We built a free Build-a-Plate app to go with the kit. Your clients arrange their plate, snap a photo, and the app gives them an “A” when they choose all the food groups along with enough fruits and vegetables. It turns a nutrition lesson into a hands-on game people actually want to share.

Choose the plate that fits your work

The kit comes with your choice of teaching plate: MyPlate for general audiences, the Diabetes plate for carb-aware counseling, the Portion plate for weight management, and the Rainbow plate for kids and schools. One kit, ready for one-on-one sessions, the classroom, and health fairs.

What's in the kit

Twenty colorful food models spanning fruits, vegetables, proteins, grains, and dairy, plus your reusable teaching plate, free app access, and a Leader Guide and Activity Book (PDF, emailed at checkout). Our chicken, salmon, brown rice, and bow-tie pasta models are designed and finished in our own studio. They are durable teaching props, not food-safe for eating.

Made for dietitians, diabetes educators, and teachers

Whether you counsel one-on-one, run a classroom, or set up at a health fair, Build-a-Plate gives you a modern, interactive way to make balanced eating click. Here is the part that makes it easy to choose: it comes with a free scoring app and a full curriculum the big food-model sets do not include, and it costs less than half their price. More in the box, for a lot less.

The first run is available for pre-order now and ships the week of August 25. Reserve your Build-a-Plate kit here.