Marketing Fruits and Veggies to Kids

Salsa: New Approach to Eating Fruits & Veggies

 “Yum. Here are some fruits and vegetables,” says adult to child. Young child’s mouth is sealed shut. “Let’s eat some salsa you helped chop up! Yummy!” Magically the mouth may open up with a smile. Not convinced?  Give salsa a whirl.

   Sometimes when families are encouraging small children to eat fruits and vegetables amiably we need a new approach. There are three nutritionists’ suggestions to follow:  make the pieces small, thick salsa style; include children in the preparation; omit the spice or onions in the salsa.

Versatile Salsa

   Salsa is sauce in Spanish which means it can go on something to add interest and flavor, but young children like it as a stand- alone, as well as, on top of something.

  Fruit salsa is generally an easy choice for young children.

Make a Fruit Salsa

 Make sure the children are standing on a sturdy surface and use plastic or table knives for chopping. Here are some possibilities: strawberries, blueberries, kiwi, pitted Bing cherries, mangoes, peeled apples, raspberries, blackberries, grapes, peeled peaches, whatever is in season. The salsa should store for a day. Add fresh banana pieces before serving.

   Older children or adults can cut the larger fruit into peeled pieces and younger children, the ones we want to convince, can cut the larger pieces into small ½ inch squares.

  Mix the juice of half or less of a lemon and 1 Tablespoon of strawberry jam together and stir into the fruit. The salsa can be served with buttered toast or an English muffin or a side of Cheerios.

    If you have time, make some cinnamon tortilla chips in the oven. Set the oven at 375 degrees.  Butter the tortillas and sprinkle lightly with cinnamon and sugar. Place on a cookie sheet and use a pizza cutter to cut into triangles or squares. Bake in the oven for about 8 minutes or until they are light brown. When cooled, children can spoon salsa onto the chips.

  If you need a rainy day activity, turn the salsa making into a cooking show by recording on your phone.

Not So Spicy

Fresh Produce Works Best for Fun & Nutrition

 Vegetable salsa is a little trickier because young children may not like  the texture or taste of vegetables yet, but it is worth a try. Start with very small tender zucchini, black beans, cooked corn, shaved carrots cut into tiny squares, and tiny pieces of chopped lettuce. Add a little salt and eat with toast or homemade tortillas with no cinnamon. If the vegetables need to be a bit softer sprinkle with water and put the mixture in the microwave for a few seconds. Tomatoes, onions, and peppers are often a problem so that probably knocks out tomato salsa for a while. For more see grandparentsteachtoo.blogspot.com; wnmufm.org/Learning Through the Seasons; Pinterest, and Facebook.

Photos: Fran Darling, fdarling fotos

Keeping Toddlers Safe Challenging By Esther Macalady

Water Safety Starts with Knowledge

Someone once said that silence is golden unless you have a very young child and then it is suspicious.  Keeping this age safe is a 24/ 7 job.  Here are tips from the Department of Health and Human Services and emergency physicians.

Water

  Stay with young kids every minute they are around water.  Records show they can drown in as little as one inch of water.

 Use flotation devices that fit since water wings and noodles can create a false sense of security. Teach children not to dive head first, instead they can jump into our arms. Dunking is never allowed.

  Learn CPR and first aid for young children. YouTube has many good videos of how to perform CPR on babies and young children. Pediatricians suggest showing them to baby sitters, refreshing, and practicing. 

  Double check that pools and spas have the proper drains that will not trap hair and loose clothing.  Empty a play pool when finished and turn it upside down.

   When you feel your children are ready, enroll them in Red Cross approved or university swim classes and keep taking them until they pass tests, then refresh skills. Make sure they know how to float and tread water. Have an extra flotation device handy and watch for signs of dangerous tides. Teach children to keep their head, hands, and feet inside boats.

  Accompany little ones to public bathrooms and outdoor portable bathrooms because older siblings may not be strong enough to hold little ones securely.  

Sports

Choose the Proper Gear for the Activity

  Encourage children to drink water before, during, and after active playtime.  Stick around to ensure a safe playing environment and enforcement of safety rules including well- fitting helmets and other gear.

 Cars

  Safety experts ask families never to leave children in the car while going shopping or doing other errands. Children get over heated, too cold, or enjoy pressing dangerous buttons and turning switches. 

Batteries and Tech

  Keep small electronics or devices especially those with small button batteries out of reach. Remote controls, musical greeting cards, and flameless candles are common hazards. Keep in mind that children are natural explorers and can climb unbelievable high. If you think a child has ingested any kind of battery to not induce vomiting. Take your child to the emergency room. The national battery hotline is 800- 498-8666.
  Families are watchful for small pieces that toddlers love to put into their mouths and possibly choke on. We sometimes forget that now scientists warn that families must be watchful for what toddlers are putting in their minds. Interacting with technology may be actually changing the functioning of their developing brains.  

For ten years a source of information for families: see grandparentsteachtoo.blogspot.com; wnmufm.org/Learning Through the Seasons live and podcasts, Facebook and Pinterest.

Photos: Fran Darling, fdarling fotos

Rocks are Cheap yet Priceless

Here Are 10 Things Families Can Do With ROCKS!

 What are ten things a family can do with rocks after children no longer put things in their mouth? Top of the list children love to throw and skip stones in the water. Help them look for thin flat rocks and show them how to flick their wrists to have rocks hit the water on the flat side. Kids and adults can pick a target to hit like another big rock or a spot a reasonable distance away so everyone can participate.

 Children like to make messages shapes like hearts, circles, squares and triangles with rocks.  They also like to draw with rocks and soon find rocks that are soft like sandstone and hard like granite.  Point out that it is important not to deface public places.

Making Cairns

  Making rock piles that balance called cairns teach engineering. Scouts and many cultures use certain rock piles for warnings and trail markings. The Inuit and others make them to symbolize protection, memorials, holy messages, and directions. How high can the cairn get? How can the rocks be piled large to small, small to large, or mixed up? Can they make a little bridge or window? Cairns can decorate gardens and shorelines. They can say “I was here.”  Will they be here when I return? Children can paint cairns and adults can varnish them to stay shiny in gardens.

 What lives under rocks?  Land or water, there are surprises underneath, lessons  about nature and reasons we should not be afraid, only curious.

Decorate, Collect, Skip & Throw, Research...a few things.

Comfort Rocks

  Children can decorate pet rocks with wiggly eyes. They can make rock families and animals by painting and gluing rocks together. Sometimes rocks are just for looking at, touching, putting under your pillow, keeping in your pocket or surprising Mom when she does the wash. Children have treasures and they like to talk about them. They also like to make rock collections of beauties to keep. They can keep cheap souvenirs of places the family visits.

 Rocks are fun to photograph whether the kids have climbed a rock for a better view or used them to step across a stream on hot day with a little helping hand. If they catch the sun just right in clear water rocks look beautiful and shiny.  Coat with Modge Podge or spray with clear acrylic to retain the shine.

  There are many library books and sites about rock basics to learn about the three types of rocks: igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic.

 Museums have rock collections and books to identify local rocks. Young children may be most interested in color, shine, and the texture of rocks. Collections could be organized by those categories and reorganized as they grow older. For more see grandparentsteachtoo.blogspot.com and wnmufm.org/ Learning Through the Seasons live and podcasts.

Cardboard Boxes Spur Imaginations

Make a Town!

Do you have a few cardboard boxes around? Then you are prepared for children. 

 All you need are boxes, string, ruler markers, box cutter or knife, and duct tape.

 If you bring a few boxes home leave them in the children’s bedroom. Don’t do anything with the boxes for a few days.  Just let children use their imaginations and art supplies on the boxes. They may make action figure houses, garages for cars, a vehicle, or a whole city.

Imaginations

   Who are your children’s story heroes? Are they interested in space characters, princesses, book characters, knights, or super heroes? Imaginary play encourages children to plan a story, take turns being characters, design costumes, 

Who Are Your favorite Characters?

set up scenes, plan problems, and use teamwork to solve them. Both the planning and the actual play develop the brain.

    Two large sturdy shipping boxes for stoves are ideal for castles or space stations. Remove any staples. Cut out the top and bottom. For easier storage and handling cut one seam of each box so they store flat. 

Building

  To make a structure, open them up and arrange so they make one large circle with any writing facing inside. Make two puncture holes on end sections and tie them with string so they stay together.

  To make a simple drawbridge type door  a castle or  ship, cut off one section of the cardboard.  Puncture a hole on each top corner of this section about four inches from the top and side. Cut two pieces of sturdy string 2 ½ yards. Tie one to each hole. Leave the other ends free for now.

    Make a hole four inches from the top and side in the two wall sections nearest the drawbridge. Thread each drawbridge string through a wall hole and tie securely. To allow children to close the drawbridge, make a slanted slash on the top of the castle or space ship. Children can pull each side of the drawbridge and secure the strings in the slash. You can help decorate with rulers and markers, cut windows, draw trees and flowers. 

  Children can help make cardboard costumes and props reinforced with duct tape. For crowns, armor, light s  
abers, shields, or swords draw patterns on newspaper first. Then trace on cardboard, cut out, and decorate. 

   Children can act out their story and take turns being a favorite character.  The cardboard will easily fold up ready for storage. 

Make a Video of Your Story Village

These little plays make great Facetime drama or movies to send to long distance relatives.

  There are some children’s books about playing with boxes.  Check out “The Big Box” by Toni and Slade Morrison and “Not a Box” by Antoinette Portis. The internet has many ideas for building with cardboard  boxes.

  For more see grandparentsteachtoo.blogspot.com, wnmufm.org/Learning Through the Seasons live and podcasts; also Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube.

Photos: Fran Darling, fdarling fotos