Dilly Days with Beth and Joellyn: Authors of The InvestiGator Club™ for Robert-Leslie Publishing

With all this talk about nutrition and healthy choices, you may be getting the feeling that this is serious, serious business. While it is all very important, there is no need to bypass the fun. How about:

• using colorful cupcake wrappers to hold nuts and pieces of cut-up fruits and vegetables.
• using cookie cutters or ice cream molds to shape rice, scrambled eggs, beans, etc.
• having the children decorate their own placemats on construction paper. Once you cover them with contact paper, you’ll have placemats that will last through many uses.

Instead of teaching children to always clean their plates, a healthier alternative is to encourage them to eat to their appetites. Growth spurts and a child’s mood will make for inconsistent interest at meal times. By creating smaller portions, children can gauge how much they want to eat at each sitting. Establish an environment where it is perfectly alright to ask for seconds and thirds.

We’re optimistic that more and more teachers and parents understand that food preferences develop early in life. As Beth and I travel around the country, we’re consistently seeing preschoolers being encouraged to choose healthy foods for their meals and snacks.

A lot of the emphasis in this effort is directed towards the fruits-and-vegetables food group. While fruits and vegetables are certainly important to a healthy diet, we need to remember that young children have a lot of other nutritional needs as well. The calcium in milk products, such as cheese and yogurt, are vital for growing children. Good protein sources, like meat, beans, and tofu, should also be included. And let’s not forget about the breads and cereals.

Too many fruits and vegetables can give children too much fiber and too few calories. An unbalanced diet can deprive children of much-needed fats, necessary for proper growth and development. The USDA’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that fats comprise between 25% and 35% of a four-year-old’s total caloric intake.

There are now news reports that some schools are starting to underfeed children. In our zeal to do the best for our kids, we need to guard against overcorrection.

Where do your preschoolers eat? A positive and comfortable eating area in the classroom helps children focus on the food when it is time to eat. Provide a place for each child at an appropriately sized table.

To help transition in and out of snack time from activity times, assign children specific tasks that must be completed before and after each meal break. Perhaps it is someone’s responsibility to place a napkin at each spot or to make sure that all the garbage ends up in the garbage can. Wow parents by modeling and role-playing appropriate table manners. Have certain meals be extra special ones so everyone can practice and show-off what he or she has learned.