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Getting to Know Food

The objects on the trees were apples, but how would Hayley have known? Until her first outing to a local farm, she thought apples came in a bag from the supermarket.

Few of us grew up on a farm, but it seems like we know more about where food comes from than our children do, or will in the future. In this grab-and-go world, highly processed convenience foods are the norm for kids, who often don't have a clue about the origins of what they are eating.

Why should it matter that children know about food? Interested, informed children are more likely to learn to make a lifetime of wiser food choices, especially during adolescence when access to junk food is greater. And adults who eat better are healthier in the long run.

It doesn't take much to get preschoolers fired up about food. Here are some activities to spark their interest.

Grow it. Seeing a plant go from seedling to something edible provides a sense of accomplishment for kids. A garden, window box, or sunny spot in the house provides the opportunity to teach children about plants as food. Children enjoy choosing what to grow, planting the seeds, watching the plant's progress, and then eating the vegetables several weeks or months later. Older youngsters can be responsible for watering plants and can help Mom and Dad transfer them outside to a sunny spot in your yard or deck.

Hayley and Hannah like to monitor the progress of the plants in our small garden. Cherry tomato plants are a particular favorite. As the tomatoes grow, I point out how they go from green to red as they ripen. My children are not vegetable lovers, but they'll eat homegrown cherry tomatoes. Even though the tomatoes are sweet and juicy, I'm not sure taste is totally responsible for Hannah and Hayley's attraction. Accessibility has a lot to do with it. The girls are about the same size as the tomato plants, and they can reach right in and pick as many as they like. They love it when I ask them to gather tomatoes for our lunch or dinner. Even when they don't eat the tomatoes they have picked for the family, it doesn't matter. The act of caring for the plants and reaping the fruits of their labor helps nurture an appreciation for the fact that food can come from the ground.

Borrow it. When you don't have the space or the time for tending plants, perhaps you can "borrow" the benefits of a garden. For example, the kids love to pick raspberries in my mother's backyard. Only about half of the berries actually make it into the house—they eat the rest. The girls are nowhere near as interested in store/bought raspberries, however.

One of my mother's neighbors plants an enormous garden every year. Aside from raiding it several times a summer (with his permission, of course!), I often take my kids into his yard to check on the progress of the many different types of vegetables he plants there. I'm especially lucky that Bill allows my kids and me to plunder his blueberry bushes, since they are my all-time favorite fruit.

Bringing children to a farm to pick their own apples, pears, berries, or pumpkin is a great family activity. It gets everyone out of doors for fresh air and sunshine and physical activity. Since it's less likely that you will grow fruit than vegetables, picking your own is the way to go for showing kids where fruit originates.

Shop for it. You may not be able to garden or make it to a farm. No matter. Trips to the grocery store teach kids about food, too. Getting your children involved in your weekly shopping can go a long way toward interesting them in healthy eating.

Before you leave the house, take inventory and make a list. Kids love to help with these tasks. I tell Hayley what I need; she asks me how to spell it and then writes it down. I've done a week's worth of shopping based on her lists. Kids can also help you check the cupboards for what you need in the way of healthy staples such as bread, cereal, legumes, pasta, and canned tuna fish. Older children can help you clip coupons, too.

It's best to shop early in the day with children to avoid the crowds. Chances are, you'll be moving slowly as you stroll the aisles. I usually take the kids at 8 A.M. on a Saturday or Sunday morning. I never shop with them around lunch or dinnertime because it's too crowded in the store and they are usually too hungry or too tired to behave.

Once in the store, get a small shopping cart for your youngster to push, and have him fetch some items as you stroll the aisles together. Pointing out new foods will pique his interest: Let him feel the fuzzy outside of a kiwi, and talk to him about where kiwis come from. That could lead to a request to buy one and try it at home.

It's all well and good when kids clamor for fruits, vegetables, and whole grain cereals while in the supermarket. Kids will invariably request foods that are packed with sugar, salt, and fat, and you'll probably give in to their demands at times. That's OK, but don't let it happen too often. It can become a pattern that's hard to break. And never bribe them with food so that they will behave while you are shopping.

Smart Shopping with Kids

• Begin shopping with children at a very early age to help them get comfortable with the routine.
• Don't shop on an empty stomach. Go after a meal or a snack to reduce the chances of kids requesting food out of hunger.
• Make a list and stick to it. When kids clamor for junk foods, tell them those items are not on the list.
• Don't rush. Shop when you have time to spend talking with your kids about food.
• Shop once a week. Bringing kids into the supermarket more often only increases their requests for items that are costly and devoid of nutrition.
• Skip the candy aisle, and head for the candy-free checkout aisles, too.
• Let kids help unload bags when you get home and put foods into the cabinets they can reach and into the refrigerator. Hayley, Hannah, and Emma love to drag the bags into the kitchen and put away the food. It doesn't always end up in the right places, but that doesn't bother me.

Kids in the Kitchen
It happens most every night, and sometimes at lunch, too. My back is turned, but the sound is familiar enough. It's Hannah, dragging a chair twice her size up to the kitchen counter. Invariably, the next thing out of her mouth is: "Mommy, can I help?"

Preschoolers love simple and manageable cooking tasks. At the tender age of four, Hannah has been helping me prepare food for the family for well over a year, and making pancakes and waffles with her father on weekends. Cooking together is a way to spend one-on-one time with a child. It's also a learning experience where kids practice counting, hone fine motor skills, and get a shot of self-esteem for their accomplishments. When a child can say he made it himself, it may even serve to increase his interest in a variety of foods.

Kids can, and should, help in the kitchen. After all, the preparation that goes into meals is a family chore that is typically left to Mom. Getting kids to help means less work for you in the long run!

The following is a guide to what each age can do as far as food preparation goes. Since every child's skills are different, make sure to tailor their designated tasks to fit their abilities.

All Ages

• Wash hands in warm, soapy water and dry thoroughly.
• Don't let them touch or eat raw animal foods, including meat, poultry, and seafood; ditto for cookie, cake, brownie, or quick bread batter containing raw eggs. Thoroughly wash with warm water and soap the surfaces and utensils touched by raw animal foods.

Two-and-a-Half- and Three-Year-Olds

• Wash fruits and vegetables
• Peel bananas
• Stir batters
• Cut out cookies from rolled-out dough, with assistance
• Slice with a sturdy plastic knife soft foods such as bananas, mushrooms, cooked and cooled potatoes and sweet potatoes
• Help pour water, sugar, salt, oil, or other ingredients into batter
• Help measure ingredients such as raisins, chocolate chips, and chopped nuts, rice, and other grains

Four- and Five-Year-Olds

• Do everything listed above
• Grease pans
• Get mixing bowls, wooden spoons, and canned ingredients and bring them to the kitchen work space
• Open packages
• Roll out or shape dough for cookies
• Shape dough for pizza
• Fill muffin tins with batter
• Use scissors to trim the ends from green beans or to snip fresh herbs
• Help set the table

"I Made It Myself!"
With some assistance and the right ingredients, kids can concoct delicious and nutritious fare. Here's how.

Juice pops: Help children pour 100 percent fruit juice into plastic ice-pop molds. Cover and freeze.

Fruit yogurt crunch: Children measure out a teaspoon of their favorite jam or jelly and mix with 4 ounces plain yogurt and some crunchy breakfast cereal.

Potato chips: Wash and cut a small white or sweet potato into thin slices and place in a bowl. Children measure a teaspoon of vegetable oil, pour it over the potatoes, and stir to coat. Kids put the potato chips in a single layer on a baking sheet. Parents place the cookie sheet in a 400°F oven for ten minutes; remove when potatoes are tender. Let them sufficiently cool before serving to children.

Snack chips: Older children can use scissors to cut pita bread or tortillas into wedges. Parents place wedges in a toaster oven. Kids can press the "toast" button. Toast lightly and let cool sufficiently. Use for dipping in hummus, peanut butter, or yogurt-based dips.

Ice cream sandwiches: Kids pile 2 tablespoons of slightly softened frozen yogurt or ice cream onto a honey or chocolate graham cracker square, and top with another square. Place in freezer to harden, and enjoy.

Tartar sauce: Have kids measure out a cup of mayonnaise and place into a medium bowl, then add an equal amount of relish, and stir. Serve with fish sticks.

Bean burrito: Children spoon refried beans onto flat tortillas, top with chopped tomato or salsa and grated cheese, roll up, and place in small baking pan. Adults place the pan in a 350°F oven for five to ten minutes, and cool sufficiently.

Personal pizza: Kids top a prepared personal size pizza crust or small tortilla with tomato sauce, grated cheese, and chopped vegetables, then place it on a baking sheet. An adult puts the baking sheet in a 400°F oven for about ten minutes, or until the cheese is melted. Cool, then enjoy.

Healthy Reading for Kids
Reading to your child promotes her language skills. Plus, kids love hearing the sound of your voice and spending special time with you when reading is the activity. Any of the following books are appropriate for babyhood and beyond.

The Berenstain Bears and Too Much Junk Food by Stan and Jan Berenstain (Random House, 1985)

Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey (Viking Press, 1948)

Bread and Jam for Frances by Russell Hoban (Scholastic Books, 1964)

Eating the Alphabet: Fruits and Vegetables from A to Z by Lois Ehlert (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1989)

Family Dinner by Jane Culter (Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1991)

Joseph and Nellie, by Bijou Le Tord (Bradbury Press, 1986)

A Kid's Book About Healthy Bones by the Medical Information Group (Medical Information Group, 1997)

The Milkmakers by Gail Gibbons (Macmillan Inc., 1985)

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle (Philomel Books, 1983)