Teach them well
Although it’s summer, I try and keep my kids learning every day. I am having my 7 year old teach my 5 year old reading skills, my 9 year old teach my 7 year old to play the piano, and I’ll teach nutrition, of course.
Ketchup boys preschool teacher taught them a unit on nutrition. I thought it was so appropriate for the ages, and all my kids have since caught on. The simpleness of it was great. She said, “We have ‘greenlight food’. This food you can eat anytime, and makes you ‘go’. Then we have yellow light food. These foods you eat sometimes, and makes you a little slower. Then there are red light foods. These foods you should not eat, and they will make you stop!”
Every item of food I give Ketchup boy he asks, “mom, is this a green light food?” Luckily, we have lot’s of green light foods. We were talking yesterday about drugs and alcohol and the flip-flopper said, “are drugs a redlight food?” Yes! I told her. They totally get it.
For older kids, there are printable activities that help teach nutrition curriculum. Direct from the Peach, plum and nectarine growers of California and Scholastic, “
My kids filled out the crossword puzzle, looked up answers to the questions, and it opened up the door for us to talk about the benefits of peaches, nectarines, and plums. This download is totally free.
So, get creative. Every day this summer teach your kids something! Not just reading and writing, but history, nutrition, geography, Physical fitness, emergency preparedness, environmental awareness. Think of things that may not be covered by your local school.
Posted: June 1st, 2008 under Ideas and Issues, product review.
Tags: free download activity, helping kids learn healthy eating, summer C program, teaching kids about nutrition
Comments
Comment from Amy
Time June 3, 2008 at 4:26 am
Hi Nicole, I was surprised how well this made sense to my kids. I think everyone should try it.
Comment from danica
Time June 11, 2008 at 12:53 pm
This is a great idea! Thanks for sharing it. I am a youth substance abuse counselor, and I get to help with our summer program – this year it’s for kids 10-13, and we spend some time teaching them stuff like conflict resolution skills and some time showing them (subtly) how to have fun without drugs and alcohol by going on a vast array of field trips – wish I’d gotten to do this as a kid! I’ve been assigned to do art therapy with them and I think that it would be great to do a nutrition day or two or more, using the green/yellow/red light concepts. We could learn about different foods and make collages of which ones are in what category and stuff! Always looking for inspiration… 
Comment from Amy
Time June 11, 2008 at 2:45 pm
Hi Danica, thanks for visiting. Good luck with those kids this summer!
Comment from Rosabel
Time November 22, 2008 at 3:53 am
Hi! You wrote a very nice post. I wonder if you can explain more on green/yellow/red light food? Thanks!
Comment from Amy
Time November 24, 2008 at 7:54 am
Hello Rosabel,
The red light foods you assign to foods that you would NOT want to eat, such as chips, soda pop, candy bars etc.. The Yellow light foods are foods you would eat SOMETIMES, such as store bought granola bars, yogurt with sugars added, muffins (with a lot of sugar and fat) etc. Green light foods are foods you can eat ANYTIME like fruits and vegetables.
Comment from Nicole
Time June 2, 2008 at 9:40 pm
This is great and so simple. I have been using anytime and sometimes food but it needs a third category and seldom wasn’t something my kids got. I think the descriptions are very apt for children ‘makes you go’, ‘makes you slower’, ‘make you stop’.
Thanks for posting about this I shall start using it.