Nutrition Activities For Kids
Nutrition activities for kids is fun and can go a long way to assist with your child’s future education. From the time they could sit up in a shopping cart, my children were always involved in my trips to the grocery store. I would talk about what I was buying, ask them questions, change the tone of my voice when I would pick up items I knew they enjoyed, and so on. Even though they could not speak, they heard everything I said. As time went on, their interest grew and they took part in the grocery shopping experiences.
I will never forget the day that my daughter was checking off items from her grocery list as we shopped. Some women were observing her actions and decided to ask her age. When she said that she was five years old (with my permission to speak-they were strangers, you know) they were very surprised.
They went on to ask her what grade she was going to and when she said “first grade,” they laughed. One of the women was a first grade teacher and she complimented me on how thorough my daughter was with her list. She read my daughter’s list and she was also impressed by my daughter’s inventive spelling. She encouraged me to “keep doing whatever it is you’re doing because it’s working well. Your daughter is already where we prepare our first graders to be.”
As parents, sometimes we get so busy, we do not realize that all the moments we spend with our children are teachable moments. In the area of nutrition, there are lots of activities that you and your infant, toddler or preschooler can take part in.
Nutrition Activities For Kids is Fun
When you return from the store, you can let your children help you empty the groceries by letting them take the items that they can lift, out of the bag for you. When children are toddlers, they are eager to help you! You can have a designated place where they can put their items or you can show them where the item goes.
For example, I would let my son and daughter take out items and as they did, I would enthusiastically thank them. For example, when my son was helping me take out the cereal, I said, “Please put the cereal on the table.” Or to practice asking and answering questions you can say, “Can you put the cereal on the table for Mommy?” Then give them that enthusiastic thank-you once they complete the task.
Right there you are addressing conversation, vocabulary, questions and answering, and teaching prepositions (“on” the table).
When they complete tasks that you have asked of them, you thank your little helper to show that you like when they help you. They will be more eager to help when they know how much you appreciate it.
Talking about the foods you are preparing also teaches vocabulary. When you allow your children to see and assist you with preparing meals, you are showing them that meal preparation is a process. You can show them that a potato before it is cooked is “hard” but after it is cooked it is “soft.” (before, after, hard, soft)
The idea is to get your children involved in nutrition, to show them why you eat specific foods, and to demonstrate healthy eating habits. There’s an abundance of activities that can revolve around nutrition. I just gave you a couple of ideas. Have fun!
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