Taking a Second Look in Kids’ Lunch Boxes

Whole Apple Slices - NOT Processed Apple Sauce

Let’s see, pack the school lunch box, check: peanut butter and jelly sandwich on whole wheat, check, one cup apple sauce, check, fruit punch, healthy lunch, check. 0pps, not so fast. Nutritionists and physicians would like families to take a closer look.

  That lunch we just sent off with our little darlings may have a whopping 75 grams of sugar. The American Heart Association suggests children have about 17 grams of sugar a day.  One rounded teaspoon of sugar or a sugar cube has about 5 grams of sugar. If we look at our lunch again, we just packed 15 sugar cubes in our children's noon meal and sent them merrily on their way. What??

  Dr. Jim Surrell colorectal surgeon whose special interest and expertise in nutrition and weight loss programs led him to write his book” SOS Diet Stop Only Sugar” helped provide information for this column.

Sugar Detectives

  With one of every three children over weight and on their way to type 2 diabetes, what can we feed children that they will eat and still be low in sugar?  Both Dr. Surrell and experts with the American Heart Association have excellent suggestions. First, start early not giving babies and toddlers food with sugar added. Read the labels. 

There are many names for sugar. If fructose, corn syrup, sweetener, dextrose, fructose, honey, or molasses, just to name a few are near the top of the ingredient 

Be A Sugar Detective

list look for alternative foods.

   The more processed the food, the more sugar content.  One packet of flavored oatmeal has 13 grams of sugar. One cup of regular oatmeal with unsweetened almond milk warmed in the microwave with a few berries 

or natural applesauce with no sugar added has much less sugar.  Older children can be trained to be sugar detectives by reading ingredient labels and adding up the sugar grams.

ABC Guide

  Dr. Surrell has a simple ABC guide in his SOS” book:” A- Avoid excess sugar!; B- Become a label reading detective!; C-Choose low sugar and high fiber!

  Let’s go back to that school  lunch. What can we do? Learn to substitute. Pack peanut butter with no added sugar as a dip for a sliced and cored medium apple (14 grams of sugar) tied with a rubber band around it.

Follow the ABC Guide

  Dr. Surrell’s other high protein, low sugar suggestions include: hardboiled egg, cottage cheese, Swiss, cheddar, Colby or string cheese, handful of dry roasted peanuts, cocoa or  plain roasted almonds, cashews, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, whole grain crackers, red or green vegetables like crunchy snap pea pods, and water. For safety include an ice box to keep food cold. If teachers ask for snacks, some of these might be sent to school.

  For more healthy suggestions see Dr. Surrell’s “SOS” book, grandparentsteachtoo.blogspot.com,wnmufm.org /Learning Through the Seasons live and pod casts.

Photos: Fran Darling, fdarling fotos

Sketch: Mark Nowicki

Safe Solar Eclipse View

Solar Eclipse August 21st 

Summer isn’t over the school bells ring! There is still time to do a few summer things.

   String problems may take the rest of the summer to untangle, but remember summer is not over until it’s over. You will need two people, balls of yarn or thick string, and  chairs.  Tie string loosely around two chairs with loose knots. The one who is not doing the tying can watch or to make the untying more difficult, look away.  You can use two different colors, take turns tying up the chairs, and as a team untie the string. This activity can be used for preschool on up, and you can make up many variations. It is inspired by the book “Maniac Magee” by Jerry Spinelli, a good read for middle school students.
An eclipse of the sun will occur when the moon gets between the sun and the earth August 21.

 Looking at the sun for even a short time can damage the eyes or cause blindness, but

  NASA has a safe fun way to study the Great American Solar Eclipse with a homemade pin hole camera.  You will need two pieces of cardboard or white heavy stock, one 4”x 4” aluminum foil, a pin or paper clip end, tape, and scissors.

We Are the Only Planet To See Total Eclipses

  Cut 2”x2’ square hole in the middle of one sheet of paper. Tape the foil over the square. Poke a hole in the aluminum foil. Place the second piece of paper on the ground, preferably in the shade for a clearer image. Hold the foiled paper with the foil facing up. Stand with the sun behind you and view the projected image on the paper below. Do not look at the sun. Move around until you find the image. The farther away you hold your camera from the ground, the bigger the projected image but not as sharp.

  We are the only planet in our solar system where the moon and the sun have the same apparent sizes because of distance. Total solar eclipses rarely occur over the U.S, in some cases every 99 years. Check what will occur in your area.

Shadow Pictures

Make Some Shadow of Your Own

  While in the sun make unique pictures of friends. In the early morning or late afternoon, tape  large pieces of newspaper on the ground. Your children can stand so their shadows fall on the paper and they can trace shadows. Can they arrange themselves so the shadows exactly cover (eclipse) a friend’s shadow?  Try this again at noon. How different are the shadows and drawings at noon when the sun is in a different position in the sky?  If done at 11:30 the shadows will point north. For more fun and family education see grandparentsteachtoo.blogspot.com, wnmufm.org/Learning Through the Seasons, Pinterest, and Facebook.

Photos: Fran Darling, fdarling fotos

Kids Can Catch Fish in a Bottle

Looking For Minnows Is Fun! 

Young children often want to net tiny fish for pets. Since minnows are very fast and don’t like to get caught, it is probably all right to give children a small net to puddle around and chase these terrified fish. They can put it in a container of lake water with sea weed for a short time.

  Then it is time to prepare for release and have the talk about minnows needing to go back in the water to grow bigger. Fresh water minnows eat insects, such as mosquitoes and flies, as well as algae and pieces of dead plant and animal matter.

Creating Minnow Fun

 Children can make their own minnow habitat.  You’ll need a clean plastic bottle two or more liters with the labels removed, small balloons, a few small rocks, sand, something to look like weeds like a piece of plastic flower, and permanent marker.

  Discuss with your children what fresh water fish or ocean mammals like white beluga whales need to survive: clean water, and food.

Children can search for a few clean pebbles and place them at the bottom of the bottle and add some sand. Slowly fill the plastic bottle with tap water about two thirds full and let the sand settle.

Fish or Whales?

Fish or Whales??

 Decide what kind of fish or whales you are going to add to your water habitat. Balloons come in packages with a variety of different shapes and colors. Long narrow ones are good for whales. More circular ones are better for colorful puffy gold fish.

Talk about their characteristics. Children can add small scales and different colors. Hold off on adding eyes and mouth. Place some water into a small balloon through a funnel if you have one. The water should be heavy enough to sink the fish.  Then blow air into the balloon until it looks like a fish after you tie the end. Place the fish in its new habitat to find out which part of the balloon will be the top so you can correctly draw the eyes and mouth with a permanent marker. At least at the beginning the fish should be under water and not be belly up.  After a few months the fish may change positions as the air or water may seep out.

   

Take a Break and Look Around You

Now you can take a break with a book about fish and a few fish crackers.  Young children will have a pet fish to keep for a long time and another fun summer lake memory. Among many excellent books are ”Beluga Whales” by Victoria Blakemore and “About Fish by Cathryn Sill. 

For more activities see grandparentsteachtoo.blogspot.com and wnmufm.org/learning through the seasons live and podcasts.

 Photos: Fran Darling, fdarling fotos

Children Will Love a Snorkel Bucket

Snorkeling - Open Another World for Children

Snorkeling opens up a whole new world of exploration for children. The gear is relatively inexpensive and takes a little practice.  Younger children can feel left out,but there is a way for them to see what is happening under water without even getting their face wet. They will feel included in the family fun until they are skilled enough to put on the gear.

Snorkel Bucket

  To help young children who have good enough balance to walk in water you can create a snorkel bucket and guide them around with a hand on their shoulder to steady them as they look down. You will need an empty small plastic pail or large plastic ice cream container, a sharp knife, a couple of large rubber bands knotted in a circle to fit tightly around the circumference of the pail, plastic wrap, and 

Using a Snorkel Bucket to Start

duct tape.

  Cut out the bottom of the pail making the hole slightly smaller than the bottom to add stability to the pail. Cover the hole and the entire side with a large piece of plastic wrap.  Keep the plastic wrap in place by carefully and slowly sliding the rubber bands ¾ of the way up the side of the pail.  This procedure works best with two people.

  Once the bucket is assembled practice using the bucket in very shallow water.  Show children how to gently push the snorkel bucket into the water without letting any water get inside.  The pressure of the water will cause the plastic to become a convex lens similar to a magnifying class so objects will look larger than they really are. The bucket is quite durable but keep extra supplies around to maintain it.

Exploring

  Young children enjoy looking at their feet and footprints in the sand. They might find the tracks of clams, snails, and birds like herons that have hunted in the night. The children might be a bit unsteady because they are looking down.

  Children also like to find toys and 

Balance and Explore the Underwater Delights!

other planted objects in the water. Museums have beautiful rocks and fool’s gold that children can collect, reuse, and won’t harm the environment if lost in the water. To help the little explorer you can cordon off a small area where you have planted a few objects to find. 

  As children learn to slowly explore the water they can team up with someone with a small net and catch snails, clams, a minnow, water bug, live dragon fly nymphs (harmless if not handled) or nymph skeletons which only look frightening. If children are afraid, give the creatures names like Sammy snail or point out why dragon flies are friends. These are old useful maneuvers.

  For more see grandparentsteachtoo.blogspot.com and wnmufm.org/Learning Through the Seasons.

Photos: Fran Darling, fdarling fotos