Celebrate National Nutrition Month With Your Kids

Every March, we celebrate National Nutrition Month with a different theme to learn about various ways to eat more healthfully. This year's theme, Beyond the Table, challenges us to think more about how our food is grown and prepared. This theme allows us to teach children about where our food comes from and include them in the preparation process. Let's explore ways we can get kids involved to start creating healthy habits to last them a lifetime.

With spring right around the corner, now is the perfect time to think about starting a garden. Gardening is a great way to teach kids about fruits and vegetables. Let them pick which fruits and vegetables they want to grow and teach them how to plant and care for the produce. This can instill a sense of responsibility while teaching them where fruits and vegetables come from and how they are grown. It is also a perfect opportunity to introduce them to new foods or create more interest around them for those picky with produce. 

Another way to involve kids and teach them about food is to take them grocery shopping and give them age-appropriate tasks while cooking. Grocery shopping can show kids all of the many different options that are available to eat. It may even spark curiosity in foods they haven't liked or have never tried. Teaching kids cooking skills can increase interest and excitement around healthy foods and help them build math, science, literacy, and fine motor skills. Here are some age-appropriate tasks your little one can help with while you supervise:

2- to 3-year-olds

• Measuring ingredients
• Helping with a salad spinner
• Garnishing dishes with chopped herbs, grated cheese, etc.
• Squeezing citrus with a citrus press
• Kneading dough
• Sprinkling salt
• Brushing milk or melted butter onto baked goods
• Spreading pizza sauce
• Decorating cookies
• Using cookie cutters to cut out dough

4- to 5-year-olds

• Picking herbs
• Washing produce
• Whisking eggs
• Stirring together dry and wet ingredients
• Stirring and mashing
• Greasing pans for baking
• Filling muffin trays and cake pans with batter
• Rolling dough
• Helping with clean-up

6- to 7-year-olds

• Mixing for baking
• Cracking and separating eggs (be sure to wash hands after!)
• Scooping and rolling cookie dough
• Peeling fruits and vegetables
• Grating cheese and citrus
• Helping wash the dishes
• Setting the table

8- to 9-year-olds

• Meal planning
• Helping with the shopping list
• Making part of their school lunches
• Starting to read through and follow a recipe
• Using a can opener
• Storing leftovers
• Making a very simple dish on the stove — such as scrambled eggs

10- to 12-year-olds

• Chopping with a knife (dependent on the parents' comfort level)
• Simple sautéing on the stove
• Baking in the oven
• Boil pasta
• Preparing omelets
• Experimenting with their own recipe