Coupons, scissors, oh my!

Here’s a trick we just discovered today! This morning I was sitting at the kitchen table clipping my coupons and my almost 4-year-old son asked if he could help. I handed him the stack I’d already cut from (which still contained plenty of coupons we wouldn’t use), we got his scissors out, and he went to town!

Those coupons are perfect for kids to cut up (not to mention they’re free)! The coupons themselves are outlined by short, straight lines, perfect for learning how to cut along a line, and the pages are full of other things that kids love to try to cut out… food items they like, people, letters, etc.

One of the skills that kids should learn before kindergarten is how to use scissors. It is not only good for manual dexterity and hand-eye coordination, but it is a pre-writing activity too.

Before you know it, you’ll have a coupon-clipping, bargain-hunting child on your hands!

Don’t trash those grocery store ads!

If you don’t already, hold on to those grocery store ads that come in the mail and newspaper this week! Enlist your little one to help you plan your grocery shopping. The ads are full of pictures of the items on sale, and each is labeled with the name of the item. This is an instant word book!

Hand your child a washable marker and ask him/her to circle the items you need to buy that week. Working together, you can identify the products by picture and by name, and also work in conversations about decision making. For example, if your kiddo circles something that is laden with unhealthy fats and sugars, you might ask, “Is that nutritious? Does that help our bodies grow? Does it help build bones and muscle?” Then, work together to find a healthier alternative — or maybe you already have a better alternative in your pantry or refrigerator. Also, if your little one suggests something that you already have plenty of at home, you could ask your child if you really need more of it. Get those little gears moving in his/her brain. You’ll be amazed at how smart your child is!

As for building the shopping list you take to the store, consider spending the extra 15 minutes to either help your child write down (by copying) the words from the ad, or perhaps your child could draw the items. If you’ve introduced child-safe scissors already, get them out (and that beloved glue stick too) and ask your child to cut out the items you’ve agreed upon and glue them onto a list.

When you both arrive at the grocery store with your lists — yours with everything included and your child’s with the items from the ad — lay down the ground rules for the expedition… Only buy things that are on the list. Cross off each item as you find it. Stay within arm’s reach of Mom/Dad the entire time. Of course, add in anything else that works for your family!

I find that if I involve my 3.5-yr-old in helping to plan the grocery list based on what’s on sale, he’s much more cooperative at the store. You’ll thank yourself, and the other shoppers will appreciate it too. 

Teaching compassion: Stamp Out Hunger

Today ask your child to open your pantry and look inside. What does he/she see? Hopefully your child is one of the lucky ones, looking at shelves full of healthy food. Ask your child how he/she would feel if your pantry was bare and his/her tummy was rumbling from hunger. Talk about how this is what many children (and adults) experience on a daily basis.

Yes, it can be a hard topic to talk about, and will likely evoke a lot of questions, but now is the time to start developing your child’s sense of compassion. Ask your child how he/she could help someone in this situation. Hopefully one of the responses involves providing food for people who don’t have enough.

This Saturday, May 9, 2009, the National Association of Letter Carriers will have its annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive. This provides a great opportunity for your child to participate in helping people, in a way that he/she can understand.

When you’re doing your grocery shopping this week, and you’re walking down the non-perishable food aisles, take the time to talk about the foods your child sees that you have at home in your pantry. Bring back the fact that many people don’t have enough to eat, and that you can help by donating food. Work together with your child to pick out some healthy non-perishable food items to contribute to the food drive.

This Saturday morning, put your non-perishable food items to donate in a bag, label the bag with “Stamp Out Hunger food drive,” and place the bag by your mailbox. Perhaps your child would enjoy decorating the bag and/or writing the words, filling it with food, and carrying it outside. The important part is that your child knows the food he/she picked out is going to help someone whose tummy is rumbling from hunger.

Compassionate kids grow into compassionate adults. Help your child become an adult you’d want to know.

Building on: Measuring healthy portions

Here’s an idea to build on yesterday’s post about volume.

Have you ever given your child full reign of the cereal box, and allowed him/her to pour his/her own breakfast? I’m betting what typically happens is that the bowl gets filled to the top, regardless of the size of bowl… Here we have a fabulous opportunity for your child to learn about healthy portions, and how to measure them.

In a similar fashion to the water experiment, here is an easy way to teach about healthy portions.

What you’ll need:

• a box of Cheerios (or any healthy dry cereal that your child likes)
• 1-cup measuring cup
• 1/4-cup measuring cup
• your child’s usual cereal bowl (which holds at least 1 cup)
• a “medium” bowl slightly larger than your child’s cereal bowl (which holds more than 1 cup)
• a “large” bowl much larger than your child’s cereal bowl (which holds several cups)
• a “very small” bowl, smaller than your child’s cereal bowl

This may involve some cereal spilling depending on your child’s fine motor skills, so use your discretion as to where this activity takes place.

What to do (adjust instructions if you’re using a cereal other than Cheerios):

1. Working together at whatever age-appropriate capacity is needed, have your child use the measuring cups to measure an age-appropriate serving of Cheerios into his/her usual cereal bowl. According to the Cheerios box, one serving of Cheerios for a child under 4 is 3/4 cup, and for everyone else it is 1 cup. Talk about how much space is left in the bowl.
2. Have your child pour the cereal into the “medium” bowl. Talk about how the amount of cereal looks smaller in this bigger bowl, even though you know it is the same amount.
3. Next, have your child pour the cereal from the “medium” bowl into the “large” bowl. Talk about how it looks like there is barely any cereal in this much larger bowl, yet it is the same amount that was in your child’s usual cereal bowl.
4. Finally, the messy part… Allow your child to pour the cereal from the “large” bowl into the “very small” bowl. Depending on the bowl you’ve chosen, it might not be large enough to hold the serving of cereal (which will cause the cereal to spill over and likely make your little one laugh!).

Discuss together which bowl held the serving of cereal the best. Was his/her usual cereal bowl too big? Would it be better for him/her to use a smaller bowl on a regular basis in order to know how much to pour to have a healthy serving? If so, which bowl in your cabinet would be a better choice? Or, was the bowl just the right size? (If it was, kudos to you!)

Improving the snack attack!

One of the best bits of advice I’ve received regarding feeding my kids came from a nutritionist. She told me, “It is your responsibility as the parent to provide healthy options; it is your child’s responsibility to decide how much he/she eats.” Over the course of a week, if you provide a range of healthy foods, your child will have a well-balanced diet. During one meal, all your kiddo may want to eat is the cheese on his/her plate, and at another meal, it may be just the veggies… but over the course of a week, everything adds up.

This is a great time to talk about presenting those healthy options. If you stock your pantry with cookies and treats, that’s what your child will see when he/she walks in there, especially if they’re at his/her eye-level. Walk into your pantry on your knees… Look around. What does your child see? Now is the time to reorganize! Put the things you’d be happy to have your child choose for a snack at his/her level — pretzels, containers of fruit, wheat crackers, applesauce, boxes of raisins, other dried fruits, healthy granola bars, etc. When your child is walking, open the pantry door to let him/her walk in and choose a snack by him/herself. If all of the options you present are equally “good,” you’ve done your job.

Similarly, look at your counters. Do you have a candy jar out there? Maybe cookies or some other savory treat? Put them behind closed doors in a cabinet. Yes, it looks very child-friendly to have a pretty glass jar of Dum Dum lollipops on the counter, but, as my mom always said, “out of sight is [often] out of mind.” Replace those options with a plate of fresh fruit and vegetables (remember, tomatoes are best stored at room temperature). Every time your child walks past that counter (whether on his/her own two feet or from the vantage point of your loving arms), the image he/she will see is a wonderfully colorful plate of delicious, fresh snacks filled with healthy sugar accompanied by fiber, vitamins, minerals, etc.

Teach your child to make healthy food choices NOW. Goodness knows they’ll be tempted when they go to school! These are techniques I’ve implemented in my own home, and I can personally attest that they do, indeed, work. Let me know how they work for you!

Laying it on thick

I’m talking about peanut butter, jelly, margarine, cream cheese, or anything else you use a knife to spread. The next time your kiddo asks for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, or cream cheese on a bagel, take a deep breath and hand over the (dull) knife. Better yet, dig into the back of your kitchen drawer and pull out those rarely used cheese spreader knives. (They’re the ones that are about 5″ long from end to end, and have a dull flat blade. They usually have a nice chunky handle, at least as thick as one of those jumbo crayons.) This is a great way for your child to work on manual dexterity and fine motor skills, begin to learn portion control (you need to be the voice of reason here), and have a great sense of accomplishment when sitting down at the table with a yummy self-made meal!