The Queen Is in the Kitchen

Making Healthy Eating Fun for Kids

COOKING UP SOME HEALTHY FUN

If someone had told me a year ago that I’d be starting a blog dedicated to healthy foods, healthy cooking and healthy eating, I would have said she was crazy.

I mean, I’m not known as the healthiest of eaters. (My family, friends and housemates will corroborate.) Sometimes I skip meals. Sometimes—especially if I’ve skipped a meal—I stop at a drive-through for a burger. Sometimes I open a can for dinner and call it good. I have a weakness for pie and ice cream. Red wine. Dark chocolate. And I’ve never thought of vegetables as my closest friends.

So how do I explain Monsters Don’t Eat Broccoli and Once Upon a Parsnip, picture books that feature veggies, of all things?

22 FOOD BOOKS FOR READ-ACROSS-AMERICA DAY

On March 2, 1998, the National Education Association sponsored the first “Read Across America Day.” Organizers chose the date to coincide with the birthday of the late, great Theodor Geisel, author of more than 60 children’s books and the recipient of a special Pulitzer Prize in 1984 citing his “contribution over nearly half a century to the education and enjoyment of America’s children and their parents.” (You might know Theo better by his pen name, Dr. Seuss.)

Almost twenty years later, Read Across America Day is still going strong. Schools, libraries, and community centers across the United States participate by sponsoring reading related activities and events.

JUNIOR CHEFS: MOVING ON TO SQUARE TWO

Q: When should kids start helping out in the kitchen?

A: As soon as they are able!

Last week I posted 10 Simple Food Prep Activities That Even a Toddler Can Do—tasks like spreading butter or jam on toast, slicing apples, and scooping melon balls. This week’s food prep activities include tasks easy enough for toddlers, too, but also interesting for older kids who want to expand their kitchen skills.

JUNIOR CHEFS: STARTING FROM SQUARE ONE

Q: When should kids start helping out in the kitchen? A: As soon as they are able!

Innovative educator Maria Montessori, who developed a unique philosophy of education that more than a century later still bears her name, believed that the teacher’s primary job was to provide opportunities for children to learn and flourish by way of their natural curiosity and intuition.

Parents who provide what Montessori called “practical life activities” for their children—the everyday activities of living—are acting as their kids’ first and best teachers. And what life skill is more practical than food preparation, an activity parents can expose their kids to every day?

FUN WITH FRUIT & VEGGIES

Do a quick Google search for images related to “playing with food,” and this is a page that might pop up. What fun!

A further search might introduce you to the delightful food art and photography of Saxton Freymann, published in a series of children’s picture books in collaboration with Joost Elffers.

If it’s one of those days when you’re stuck in the house with kids—a snow day, or the 40th day of rain, or a day just too hot to leave the air conditioning—get out a carving knife and the fruits and veggies from the crisper and create your own menagerie!

A DIETICIAN ON KIDS & HEALTHY EATING

I met Carolyn Connor at a Nutrition First “Healthy Habits” conference in Seattle when she invited me to sell my veggie-related picture books in the conference hall. I didn’t get to attend the sessions, but I loved meeting the many amazing people who dropped by my booth–smart, savvy men and women who are committed to children’s health and nutrition.

Nutrition First is the WIC (Women, Infants and Children Food and Nutrition Service) Association for Washington State. Their mission is to ensure that young children of families with limited resources have opportunities for better nutrition to improve overall health.