A national study shows that more and more children are dealing with obesity. The numbers of children with poor nutrition is astounding. Macaroni and cheese, hotdogs, and French fries were among the top food choices for children. So how do we get them to eat better?
The first step is to make sure they eat what is cooked. If you are serving a food dish they don’t like, they can have the choice of eating it or not having dinner. This can be really difficult at first and can start a big fight. When introducing new foods that you think your kids won’t like, also serve something good that you know they will eat. This can help eliminate the problem of them “starving to death”.
Once your children know that they must try new foods, it allows you to begin experimenting. For our family, I found a recipe book that had 36 weeks of recipes. The first time we used the book, each family member rated the dinner item. I placed a star by the recipe for each family member that liked the food. Now when we go through the book, if an item has fewer than 3 or 4 stars, I skip that meal.
Find recipes that provide good nutrition – legumes, vegetables, fruits. We all remember the food pyramid from our days of school. If your kids are eating school lunch, they are getting one good nutritious meal. You can follow their food guidelines when planning your own meals. Keep the monthly calendar with the meals the school has planned, and follow them for dinner (in a different month).
Introduce foods that you know your children didn’t like before, and have them try one bite. Kid’s taste buds change over time, and something they hated before they might really like now.
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Parents who decide to home school their pre-school children have researched the value of teaching your own children at home. Beginning home school at the pre-school age is an excellent way to get the parent and the child used to the idea of learning at home. This is also a great way to ease into learning how to teach and organize the home school schedule. The child is not used to attending a school; therefore there is no adjustment period. Also, pre-school children are incredibly easy to teach because it is mostly in playing that they learn.
When creating a tailored preschool curriculum, parents provide a safe environment with interactive toys. Believe it or not, the parent is the child’s first teacher. Children at this age imitate everything their parents do by observation, playing, helping, talking, and listening. Reading to children at this age is one of the best ways to develop avid readers. At this age, a standardized curriculum isn’t necessary. Children learn from coloring, cutting, pasting, counting, singing, rhymes, games, playing with clay, playing in the playground, and learning to get along with others. It is important to include some of these activities daily in an unstressed, relaxed manner. Children at this age need your love and attention more than they need academics and structure.
The key to learning at this age is to provide a lot of hands on projects, particularly with arts and crafts. Many children in this age group have play dates where they meet with other children and go to parks, farms, even shopping trips. Pre-schoolers love to be included in everything you do, whether it be emptying the dishwasher, or sorting mail, and especially baking. Even though it may seem that their short attention span doesn’t allow for intense learning, they are learning real life experiences.
The kids are home from school. They haven’t had anything to eat since lunch time three hours ago. They are starving. Will they reach for the bag of potato chips, or find some fruit wedges and dip? Helping our kids eat nutrition snacks is easy if they are the only choice. Don’t buy the junk foods at the store and your children won’t have to resist eating them. Here are some fun ideas for snack time at home.
Kids love to dip. Make foods that they can dip with. Vegetables are a given, but fruits are also good with a fruit dip. You can make one using some whipping cream and jello mix. This sounds really sweet and sugary, but you are getting them to eat fruit as well. Limit their dip to a spoonful so they don’t put too much on each piece.
Adding creativity to the display or cut of the food makes it fun to eat. You can slice apples and cut them into bites and serve them with toothpicks or skewers. Add bites of bananas or other fruits between the apple bites.
Fast snacks are another choice. Bagels with peanut butter, rice cakes, fruit, nutrition bars, granola bars, and fruit rollups are some quick ideas. Add a glass of fruit juice and your kids will be set.
There are lots of recipes that you can find for your kid’s after school snack. If you don’t have time to bake during the day, make a batch of cookies or other snack on the weekend and freeze the dough or the cooked food. Then before the kids get home from school, pull it out of the freezer and let it thaw, or cook it. Providing nutritious snacks gives your kids the energy they need to make it to dinner time.
