The littlest kids will learn some big lessons on how to stay heart healthy Wednesday.
The annual "Heartist" project takes place at the Riley Avenue Elementary School on Wednesday from 1:15 to 1:45 p.m. for grades K through 2 and from 2 to 3 p.m. for grades 3 and 4.
Volunteers from the North Shore University Heartist educator team will teach a unit on heart health to the first graders through the "Heartist" program, which means "heart" plus "artist."
Students will learn about the human heart, why it needs to be healthy, how to read food labels, how to make heart healthy choices, and hands-on learning with heart models and stethoscopes.
Some children will assist the Heartist team in making heart healthy snacks such as fresh fruit and vegetable kabobs, yogurt fruit parfaits, and celery and pepper boats; the kids will also get chef hats.
Find out what's happening in Riverheadwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The project also includes artwork that will hang in the cardiac wing of North Shore University Hospital.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
