The Importance of Cooking with Kids

 A lot can be learned in the kitchen with your young ones. It's a great way to incorporate many life skills, create core memories and easily strengthen family bonds.

Overview

Looking for ways to engage your children at home while sharing essential life skills? You are in luck- we have a fun and hands-on activity for the whole family using your very own kitchen and items already in your pantry! Cooking with your child in a great way to help them develop a strong knowledge base about good nutrition, meal planning and preparation, and incorporating how to read food labels. A lot of times, children are more likely to try new foods that they have a hand in preparing- so make trying new foods exciting and expand their horizons by getting your child in the kitchen and learning!

Take Action

Home Cooking Class

• Choose a recipe with your child based on food availability and how much time you have to dedicate to preparing the recipe. This is a great opportunity to brainstorm with your child around creative recipes or meals based on what you have already on hand at home. Add a budget and nutrition component with older children by discussing the cost of items used and analyzing food labels to dive deeper into the nutrient makeup on the recipe. For some recipe ideas, check out our Healthy Kids blog or our Nutrition Toolkit in partnership with Dole.
• Establish home kitchen rules! Set parameters and rules early on to make sure safety is a priority and your child understands. Make sure your child understands how to use different utensils and appliance safely and the importance of having adult supervision at all times. This is also a great time to relay some common food safety tips as well.
• Take inventory of current cooking equipment and outline additional supply needs if needed. Think about the tasks involved in the recipe and assign them to you and your child accordingly. Some kid-friendly tasks can involve measuring, stirring, or gathering ingredients! Always offer guidance and remember to compliment your little chef! You can consider doing some prep work beforehand if you need to move at a quicker pace.
• Once your recipe is prepared, let your child take the first taste! Sit down together as you enjoy your creation and discuss the process, success, and what you learned.

Food Art

• Don’t have access to a kitchen or have younger children who are not quite ready for cooking tasks? Try a food art activity to teach similar nutrition concepts and have fun! You can still relate healthy eating behaviors to a food art activity. For example, you can be creative and highlight healthy fruits and vegetables as your food art ingredients while explaining the importance of each and how they help growing bodies! Click here for some food item ideas that are nutritious options.
• Do some prep work before the activity and have items cleaned and cut so they are ready to use. You can then allow your child to use cookie cutters and common household items, such as toothpicks, to piece their food art together!
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Happy 250th Birthday America

It's America's 250th Birthday!!! Below are a few ideas to get your kids interested in the history of our great country...

Celebrate Independence Day with kids by blending interactive history lessons with festive, hands-on activities. Create a memorable 4th of July by decorating bikes for a neighborhood parade, baking flag-themed cakes, or doing simple science experiments like making "fireworks in a jar". 

Make the day educational and engaging with these actionable ideas:

• The Flag Lesson: Teach children that the 50 stars represent our states and the 13 stripes represent the original colonies. You can even make a tasty flag snack or craft together to help them remember. 
• Honor Our Troops: Say "thank you" to military members by writing homemade thank-you cards or sending care packages. 
• Age-Appropriate History: Explain that the holiday is America's birthday, dating back to July 4th, 1776. Keep it simple by discussing what freedom means and how our government differs from having a king.

 

 We all know the importance of keeping our skin safe from the sun. With Summer right around the corner keep this bit of information in mind!

• Use Enough: Apply about 1 ounce to cover your entire body, or use the "two-finger" rule for your face.
• Timing: Apply 15 to 30 minutes before heading outdoors so it can properly absorb.
• Reapply: Reapply at least every 2 hours. Do this immediately after swimming, heavy sweating, or toweling off.
• Choose Wisely: Opt for a "broad-spectrum" formula with an SPF of 30 or higher.
• Travel limits: If flying, carry-on liquids must be 3.4 ounces (100 ml) or less.

Choosing the Right Formula

• Broad-Spectrum: This ensures you are protected from both UVA rays (which cause premature aging) and UVB rays (which cause sunburns).
• Water-Resistant: If you are swimming or sweating, check the label for 40- or 80-minute water-resistance claims.
• Expiration Dates: Sunscreen loses its potency over time. Always check the expiration date on the bottle. If it lacks one, the FDA recommends treating it as expired after 3 years.

Application Best Practices

• Don't Forget the Details: Ensure you cover easy-to-miss spots like the tops of your feet, ears, back of the neck, and lips (using an SPF lip balm).
• Daily Use: UV rays can pass through clouds. Apply sunscreen daily, even on overcast or rainy days.
• Infants: The Skin Cancer Foundation advises keeping babies under 6 months out of the sun entirely rather than using sunscreen. 

Travel and Flight Guidelines

• Carry-On: You can bring sunscreen in your carry-on bag, but liquid containers must be 3.4 ounces (100 ml) or smaller and fit into a single quart-sized bag. 
• Checked Bags: Larger sunscreens can go in your checked luggage, but aerosols and sprays are subject to specific TSA total volume limits per person.

For comprehensive ingredient guides and safe-use tips, check the EWG or the CDC for more local UV and safety information.

Water Competence and Safety

What Does It Mean to Be Water Competent?

Water competency is a way of improving water safety for yourself and those around you through avoiding common dangers, developing fundamental water safety skills to make you safer in and around the water, and knowing how to prevent and respond to drowning emergencies. Water competency has 3 main components: water smarts, swimming skills and helping others. 

Water Smarts

Take these sensible precautions when you’re around water (even if you’re not planning to swim):

• Know your limitations, including physical fitness, medical conditions.
• Never swim alone; swim with lifeguards and/or water watchers present.
• Wear a U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jacket appropriate for your weight and size and the water activity. Always wear a life jacket while boating, regardless of swimming skill.
• Swim sober.
• Understand the dangers of hyperventilation and hypoxic blackout.
• Know how to call for help.
• Understand and adjust for the unique risks of the water environment you are in, such as:
  • River currents.
  • Ocean rip currents.
  • Water temperature.
  • Shallow or unclear water.
  • Underwater hazards, such as vegetation and animals.

Swimming Skills

Learn how to perform these 5 skills in every type of water environment that you may encounter (such as in home pools, oceans, lakes, rivers and streams):

 

1. Enter water that’s over your head, then return to the surface.
2. Float or tread water for at least 1 minute.
3. Turn over and turn around in the water.
4. Swim at least 25 yards.
5. Exit the water.
   
   
   
   
   
   

Helping Others

These actions will help your family avoid emergencies – and help you respond if an emergency occurs: 

• Paying close attention to children or weak swimmers you are supervising in or near water.
• Knowing the signs that someone is drowning.
• Knowing ways to safely assist a drowning person, such as “reach or throw, don’t go”.
• Knowing CPR and first aid. 
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Summer Activities

 Summer is quickly approaching and your preschooler will need some at home summer activities. Here are few easy hands-on activities that combine play and learning. These encourage imagination, gross motor skills, and cooling off! Great activities for the whole family.

Water & Sensory Play

• Ice Melt Treasure Hunt: Freeze small plastic toys or coins in a Tupperware container filled with water. Give your preschooler spray bottles, droppers, or warm water to "excavate" the toys.
• Sink or Float: Fill a shallow bin with water. Let your little one gather random, waterproof household items (spoons, blocks, leaves) and guess whether they will sink or float before testing them in the water.
• Shaving Cream Writing: Spread shaving cream over a flat tray or outdoor table. Let your child practice tracing shapes or writing their name with their fingers, which is fantastic sensory and fine motor practice. 

Gross Motor & Movement

• Chalk Obstacle Course: Draw an extra-large track on your driveway or sidewalk with sidewalk chalk. Include areas to hop like a frog, balance on a straight line, spin in circles, or slither like a snake.
• Sponge/Splash Ball Targets: Draw large circles with letters, numbers, or simple shapes on the driveway using Sidewalk Chalk. Have your preschooler throw wet sponges or splash balls to land on your requested target.
• Balloon Tennis: Blow up a few balloons and use fly swatters, paper plates taped to popsicle sticks, or just their hands to keep the balloons off the ground. 

Imaginative Play

• Living Room Campout: Gather blankets, pillows, and chairs to build a Living Room Fort. Bring in books, flashlights, and a picnic-style snack to enjoy in their new campsite.
• Toy Wash: Fill a bucket with soapy water, toss in some dirty plastic animals, vehicles, or blocks, and give your child toothbrushes or sponges to scrub them clean.