Today’s support for the home comes from Morgan in the Madrona class.

Food, mealtimes and good nutrition is important for everyone in the family. It helps our bodies feel better, stay stronger, and brings us together. Including your children in the planning and creation of meals, can be bonding, fun, and a teachable moment. When your child is included in the planning and making of meals, they may eat more or be willing to try new foods.

For the younger child, maybe it’s creating a morning and afternoon snack for the week. They could draw pictures for the menu, or cut out pictures from the grocery store flyers for the week, including a pictorial representation for how much to serve. If they decided on cheese and apples, they could draw 4 cubes for the cheese and 2 slices for the apples. If your child is practicing writing their numerals, they could write the symbol instead. They could get lots of practice peeling, chopping, spreading-the options are only limited by your kitchen ingredients.

For the older child, they could start by creating a weekly calendar for meals. Imagine all the work that would go into drawing a table for the week! Reviewing the days of the weeks, how many grids are needed for 3 meals a day? How much faster would they get creating it after three weeks? They could start by planning one type of meals, such as breakfasts, and then move up from there. Grocery lists could be generated from their planning, art could be used to embellish their menu, reading could be used as they peruse cookbooks looking for new ways to use those old bananas, math once they find those recipes and read the measurements. Maybe they even create their very own recipe book with favorite recipes they discover, writing their favorites and binding them in a book with art scraps from all over the house.

What conversations would come up about what makes a good meal? Why is having a colorful, diverse planning of fruits and vegetables good for your body? How would your child feel when they are giving the responsibility to help nourish and feed the family? In the classroom, one of the goals of food preparation is the practice of serving food to other; it can be an act of love and generosity, allow your child to continue that love and generosity at home. As always when working with food, and especially when creating food to others, have a conversation about what is included in good hygiene-WASH THOSE HANDS!!


Sincerely,
The Primary Guides
Liz, Ryan, Victoria, Morgan, Emily, and Meagan