Have Fun While Learning to Eat Healthy!

We have all been eating more meals at home since our daily routines were interrupted by pandemic safety protocols. In many households, budgets are tight, and parents now have additional responsibilities to support student learning at home.  This may not sound like a good time to suggest that you put more on your plate, but cooking, tasting, and reading about food can be simple, affordable, educational, and fun!

NH Harvest of the Month offers some suggestions for classroom learning that are easily transferable to learning at home.  While these tips were created for learning about fruits and vegetables, they are adaptable to other types of food as well.

• Read with your family!  There are books for all age levels about healthy eating, trying new foods, cultural food traditions, growing food, and much more.  If you need some ideas, NH Harvest of the Month’s website has a selected reading list related to fruits and vegetables to get you started. 
• Buy a new food to taste at home.   This is your chance to buy something out of the ordinary or a more expensive item.  Make it a science lesson by making careful observations of appearance, taste, texture, and smell.  Make it a math lesson and chart the reactions of different family members. 
• Locate the origin of your food on a map.   You can locate where the product you purchased originated or the historical origins of the food. 
• Use your artistic skills to draw or diagram a fruit or vegetable.  Paint a still life.  Create an advertisement for a favorite food and try to “sell” it to your family and friends.
• Grow something indoors.  Growing green beans in a sunny window works well.  Try growing an herb like basil. Or try growing vegetables from scraps in your kitchen. Kitchen Scrap Gardening
• Cook together!  If mealtime seems stressed and hectic, plan family cooking for a time when you can all be more relaxed and have fun.

Don’t forget to keep it healthy while you are having fun and choose foods from MyPlate!