Ways to Help Your Kids Make Their Own Healthy Food Choices

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By: Jennifer Scott, Spiritfinder

When your children are growing up, it’s vital that they receive proper nutrition. Sometimes it can be easier to grab something unhealthy to feed them when they’re hungry and you’re busy, but when this becomes a habit, it can become detrimental to your child’s well-being. Worse yet, they learn this habit and end up making unhealthy choices on their own.

 

Ensure that your child is getting their necessary nutritional intake is by providing them with healthy meals and snacks when possible. This will help them make their own healthy food choices as their lives go on.

 

Make a switch

Some children like to eat the same thing every day, while others may enjoy a slight switch in their lunchtime sandwich selection. To satisfy any child’s taste, you can use different pieces of bread that are low in saturated fat and made with no hydrogenated oils. Try also shredding carrots or zucchini (just like you do with cheese) and adding it to their meals; your child might not even notice and may enjoy the surprise in their lunchbox. This might also increase the likelihood that they’ll enjoy snacking on vegetables between meals.

 

Let them help

You might think that your child will view packing their lunch as a chore, but they could very likely find it fun — now they get a say in what they are eating for lunch! Make sure the refrigerator and pantry are well-stocked with healthy food options (pro-tip from Redfin: organize your refrigerator shelves in a way that allows your child to find the healthiest options first). Give them some ideas on how to make nutritious food delicious and fun, and then let them make it with you.

 

Purchase the right supplies

Many children are picky about their food, so it’s important to have plenty of options available for them. For example, if you’d like to encourage them to eat a serving of vegetables, but they hate broccoli, have alternatives like carrots and snap peas on hand. Other kids can’t stand it when different foods on their plate touch one another. You can simply prevent them from complaining by purchasing Tupperware that has compartments. You can even get them in your child’s favorite color or let them pick their own. They can have fun filling up the compartments with the healthy options of their choosing.

 

“For kids” does not mean “healthy”

Many people believe that when there is a label on a product that reads “for kids” that it is healthy. However, it doesn’t guarantee it has healthy levels of sugar, salt, or other additives and preservatives. The best way to assess whether a product is suitable for children is to look at its nutritional facts. If the ingredients are truly healthy, then that is perfect for your child’s lunchbox. Whole foods are best when possible; if you can’t pronounce the ingredients listed on the package, it’s likely that it’s not nutritionally sound. Talk to your kids about consuming this information. There’s a good chance they’ll take an interest in figuring out the nutritional content on their own, even if they don’t fully grasp what every single ingredient means.

 

Make your own

Many children love products like Lunchables. Although they are easy to make and appear relatively healthy, they are filled with highly-processed, unhealthy ingredients. Instead, make your own, and have them help, adding items such as whole-grain crackers and reduced-fat cheese. For personal pizzas, try using plain, whole-wheat pitas with marinara sauce, grated cheese, and sliced vegetables for a healthy topping. Consider rotating out different proteins, vegetables, fruits and complex carbohydrates to keep your child’s taste buds from getting bored. Your children will love it, and it is a much healthier option.

 

Veggies over fruit

It’s easy to remember to pack fruit in your child’s lunchbox, but what about the veggies? Many people put fruit and vegetables in the same category, but they have a lot of differences, including their nutrients. Make sure to include veggies in your child’s lunchbox every single day, even if you also give them a piece of fruit (which can be used as their healthy, sweet snack!).

 

It’s so important to make sure that your children understand the benefits of eating healthy.  These tips are easy, and will help your child grow up to be big, strong and smart! Just remember to communicate with them and help them understand why a nutritious diet is so important.

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Fall Transition: Nutkin

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For some classrooms, transitioning to the next activity can be hectic and disorganized! It’s great to have a routine or recurring activity to introduce a new part of the day. Nutkin is a great fall transition that will help children calm down and focus so they can hear Nutkin in his tree!

Words to Use:
Nuts
Squirrel
Gray, brown

 

Materials:
Potato chip canister
Brown and gray construction paper
Assorted nuts
Popsicle stick
Scissors markers
Tape

 

What to do:

  • Cover the can with brown paper to resemble a tree trunk.
  • Put a handful of nuts in the can.
  • Draw and cut out a squirrel from the gray construction paper and tape it to the Popsicle stick (or print and cut out a squirrel)
  • Place the squirrel puppet in the can with the nuts.
  • As the children sit down for circle or story, take the can and say, “I wonder if Nutkin is at home. If you are quiet you may hear him rattling his nuts.”  Shake the can.
  • When the children are focused, quietly take out the squirrel and let it introduce a new activity or tell the children a story.

 

Simple Pumpkin Activities

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From the vibrant color to the odd shapes and textures, kids love to play with pumpkins in the fall! With pumpkins, children can explore almost every sense including sight, touch, smell, and taste!

Science:

  • Provide a variety of small pumpkins and gourds along with a magnifying glass. Have children examine the textures, shapes, and colors of the pumpkins and gourds. Have them point out differences and similarities.
  • Have the children predict whether a pumpkin will sink or float. Then drop a pumpkin into water to discover that it does float.  It is hollow inside and the trapped air keeps it from sinking.
  • Explore the inside of a pumpkin to learn more about seeds, fibers, and pumpkin meat. Have the kids feel the stringy texture (this is awesome for sensory play).
  • You can even bake the pumpkin seeds and add salt or cinnamon sugar for a unique treat!

 

Math:

  • Guess how many seeds a pumpkin has inside! Collect and count the seeds taken from a cut pumpkin.
  • Guess how much a pumpkin weighs, make predictions and then use a scale to determine its weight.
  • Cut out several pumpkins ranging in size from small to large. Have the children place the pumpkins in order from smallest to largest. (PRC has 4 sizes of pumpkin die-cuts)
  • Have children draw faces on orange colored paper plates only using shapes they have learned about (squares, triangles, rectangles, circles).

 

Art:

  • Pass several pumpkins around the classroom and have the children examine the size, color, shape, and texture of each one. Have them draw detailed pictures of the pumpkins.
  • Provide dried pumpkin seeds, glue, and 1-2 inch pieces of orange yarn for children to create their own pumpkin insides.
  • Pumpkin Suncatchers-grate pieces of orange crayon and place between 2 pieces of waxed paper.  Place a cloth over the paper and iron.  Cut out a pumpkin shape and hang in a sunny window.

 

 

 

Jack-o-Happy: Circle Time Activity

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Jack-o-Happy

Paint or color 7 paper plates orange.  Draw jack-o-lantern faces with a black marker, one on each orange circle.  Draw the faces to be happy, sad, sleepy, mad, puzzle pieces, tiny, and silly.  Glue the circles to the paper plates and attach tongue depressors.  At circle time say the following poem and have the children hold up the jack-o-faces.

I am Jack-o-Happy

I am Jack-o-Sad

I am Jack-o-Sleepy

I am Jack-o-Mad

I am Jack-o-Pieces

I am Jack-o-Tiny

I am Jack-o-Silly

The Best of Them All

This is a wonderful activity for talking about emotions and matching facial cues! Kids will also love the repeating poem! Try mixing the order for a surprise!

 

 

Creating a Classroom “Quiet Spot”

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To teach your students self-calming skills, create a “Quiet Spot” (or a “Calming Corner”) in the classroom for the students to “take a break,” or “take some space,” when they become upset. The Quiet Spot is a way to teach children to calm themselves down by taking space away from their classmates and by doing self-relaxing activities. You could decorate it with snowflakes and other items that invoke images of “coolness” and “calmness” and call it the “North Pole.”

This area could include a bean bag chair with a basket of “Quiet Spot toys.” If you do not have space in your classroom to create separate Quiet Spot center, you could put a bean bag chair, pillow, or carpet square in the reading or listening center, and place a basket of “Quiet Spot toys” next to it.

“Quiet Spot toys” to put in a basket could include squishy balls or soothing toys to squeeze or shake, a pillow to pound, or a teddy bear to hug.  You could also place paper and envelopes in the area, and encourage children to rip up a sheet of paper and place the scraps in an envelope to put in their book bag or to throw away when they leave the quiet spot. Other items could include a small, personal fan or squeeze toy that blows air, a small spray bottle, bubble wrap to pop, and a square of felt to pull.

Teach children to use this area as a place to calm-down by demonstrating its use as well as consistently directing children to “take a break in the Quiet Spot” when they become too upset to work through a conflict. Introduce the area and explain rules such as “one child at a time,” and “toys stay outside,” then pretend that you feel angry or sad and use the quiet spot to calm yourself down in front of the class. Keep in mind that this area should not be used as a punishment (time out) area.