Cooking with Kids!
Almost 50% of meals consumed in the US are away from home. This is a scary trend that continues to increase each year. With this, obesity continues to increase, and the lack of cooking skills with the younger population decreases. Many factors play into this increase in meals eaten away from home:
- Lack of time for meal prep by parents
- Lack of time for children to be at home to learn
- Busy life styles
- When they do cook, parents just want to get the meal on the table, and don’t want the mess or hassle of taking the time to work with their children
I received a grant from the Nebraska Action for Healthy Kids last fall. With this money, I am providing after school classes for the students at St. Bernard’s Child Care. For twelve Friday afternoons this school year, we get together in the kitchen, and learn about nutrition, cooking, and exercise. The children also get a healthy dose of food safety incorporated. My goal is to teach basic cooking skills, increase the amount of fruits and vegetables these children eat, and increase their activity levels. When the class is over, the Child Care will receive all of the educational and cooking materials, so that they can continue to provide a program like this during the summer. 
The curriculum used is Cookin with Kids from KSU. We make two or three recipes each week, and we utilize a Xavix program (like a Wii) for exercise. The feed back so far has been very positive! The parents think its great, and the kids love to make actual recipes on their own! Check back in the future to see new pictures of the children.
