3 top creative snacks for your child’s lunchbox

Posted on September 19, 2010 by viviankirkfield

Sometimes as parents we have to be magicians in order to insure that our children pull out healthy snacks from their lunch boxes. Whether your child goes to a daycare or preschool facility or is home with you, it’s important that he be eating healthy, nutritious foods…both at mealtimes and for snacks.

If the facility provides the snacks and meals, it’s crucial to find out what is being served. And, if you are not happy, please don’t hesitate to make suggestions and, if necessary, band together with other parents to work towards upgrading the menus and ingredients used.

On the other hand, if you are providing the food that fills the breakfast plate, lunchbox and dinner table, you are in total control of what your child is eating. This can be a daunting task…but it is wonderful because you can pick and choose the best ingredients and most healthful recipes.

Our children look forward to snacks…we can help fight the current trends of increased child-obesity, dental decay and juvenile diabetes by making those snacks high in nutrition and fiber and low in sugar and fat.

Here are three top creative snacks for your child’s lunchbox. You and your child can spend some quality time together, making these simple, delicious and healthful treats.

I. PEANUT BUTTER BALLS

You will need: 1/4 cup peanut butter (or other nut butter), 1/4 cup honey, 1/2 cup non-fat dried milk powder, 1/4 cup shredded coconut, a large bowl and a cookie sheet lined with wax paper.

Mix the first 3 ingredients in a large bowl until well-blended. Then roll into small balls (about 1 tablespoon each).
Roll the balls in shredded coconut and place on cookie sheet.
Refrigerate for 15-20 minutes.
Place uneaten balls in a cover container and store in the refrigerator for up to a week (although they won’t remain uneaten for that long).
This recipe makes about one dozen balls. You can double or quadruple the recipe quite easily. To go in your child’s lunchbox: wrap one or two balls in waxed paper and then put in a small sandwich baggie.

II. LION’S CANDY

You will need: 1/2 cup peanut butter (or other nut butter), 1/2 cup ground sunflower seeds, 1/4 cup instant dry milk, 1 Tb honey, 1/2 cup finely chopped raisins (or dates or other dried fruit), 1/2 tsp cocoa (optional) and a large bowl.

Blend together nut butter and ground sunflower seeds.
Stir in dry milk, honey and dried fruit. Mix well (with hands, if necessary).
If the mixture is too dry, add some liquid milk; if too wet, add more dry milk.
Form into teaspoon-sized balls. If desired, roll in cocoa powder.
Makes about 2 dozen balls. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. To send in your child’s lunchbox, wrap 1 or 2 balls in waxed paper and put in a small sandwich baggie.

III. RAINBOW VEGGIE STICKS WITH NUTTY DIP

You will need: Assortment of colorful vegetables such as green and red peppers, carrots, zucchini and celery (use your imagination), 1/2 cup almonds (or other nuts), blender or food processor, small container and a large container.

Wash the vegetables and cut in sticks.
Grind the nuts. Add a little olive oil or canola oil if the dip is too dry.
Store the cut vegetables in a covered container in the refrigerator.
Store the nut butter in a small covered container in the refrigerator.
To send in your child’s lunchbox, put an assortment of the rainbow-colored vegetable sticks in a small sandwich baggie and put a tablespoon of the nut butter in a small covered container.

Chef Ann Cooper, director of nutritional services at Berkeley Unified School District and co-author of Lunch Lessons, has great ideas about our children’s nutrition and offers tips on how to improve it: www.thelunchbox.org.

You can also find more information about healthy living and nutritious eating at: www.betternutrition.com and www.deliciousliving.com.

Your preschooler needs a bucket list

Posted on September 11, 2010 by viviankirkfield

Several years ago, Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson starred in a movie called “The Bucket List” which told the tale of two older gentlemen who decided that before they died, there were a number of things they wanted to do. Many people, as they get older, begin to think about the things they never got around to doing, but wish they had. In fact, that’s one of the reasons I was thrilled when I visited my son in Chicago and he told me he had arranged for us to go skydiving. I had an awesome experience and I was able to cross one more item off my bucket list. http://bit.ly/b8By2X If you click on this link, you’ll be able to share that exciting ride with me!

There are many things that young children need to experience as well. I think there are some basic things that every preschooler should have the opportunity to do, although your family may want to add to the list or subtract from it, based on your individual situation.

So, here is my bucket list for a preschooler:

Hear the words, I LOVE YOU, every day!
Be shown by parents and other adults that he/she is loved and valued!
Be encouraged to master tasks and skills.
Be allowed to express his/her feelings, whether positive or negative.
Go to a zoo.
Jump in puddles after a rainstorm.
Play in the mud and get dirty.
Use art supplies (paints, crayons, clay, etc.) to express creativity.
Get a library card (as soon as your local library allows…go to the library on a regular basis.
Feel safe at home and in school, daycare or anywhere.
Be read a story (or two or more) on a daily basis.

As Alecia Devantier says in 101 THINGS EVERY KID SHOULD DO GROWING UP, “Childhood is a magical time of newfound joys and enriching experience. The gifts our children are given today will last a lifetime.”

What’s on your child’s bucket list?

Why I LOVED the start of school

Posted on September 6, 2010 by viviankirkfield

I know that many parents are anxious about their child starting school. I’ve addressed that in previous posts as well as how to help a child who is anxious about going to school. I began thinking about how I felt when my children started school: EXCITED, EAGER and HAPPY, and how my children felt about going to school: as far as I know they were EXCITED, EAGER, and HAPPY. And, even though it was a very LONG time ago, I can still remember how EXCITED, EAGER, and HAPPY I was when I started school.

So what did my mother do all those years ago to help me and my sister look forward to going to school with eager anticipation? I know that I tried to copy her winning formula when it came time to send my own children to school.

My mother had a matter-of-fact, upbeat and positive attitude about us going to school. I never heard her say anything negative about the school or our teachers. Children are so very sensitive to our emotions…if we are tense and anxious about something, they probably will be also.
We went to a neighborhood school, so we knew many of the children in our classes. Try to make sure that your child has visited the school before the first day…you can also try to connect with other parents of his classmates and arrange playdates so that your child will feel more comfortable with the other children.
We got a new pair of SCHOOL shoes and a new outfit to wear on the first day. And, when we got home from school each day, we took off our school clothes and put on play clothes. Somehow, that made “school” a very special place. Encourage your child to lay out his clothes the night before each school day…this will help lessen the last-minute rush in the morning.
My mother encouraged us to bring friends home after school (she was a stay-at-home mom…as were most moms in those days). Whether you have a career or not, try to set aside some time, perhaps on the weekend, to enable your child to get together with some of her classmates. Maybe you can form a group with several parents and alternate having a little monthly party to celebrate one of the children’s birthdays, a holiday or whatever you wish.
She loved hearing about our day at school…she was a great listener…what we did was important to her and she was happy to help us with homework or studying. In the early grades, I can remember sitting at the kitchen table and having her help me cut and glue magazine pictures. When I was in high school (and even in my college years), I can remember sitting on the floor at her feet, pad of paper and pen in hand, asking her, “Mom, how can I start this paper?”…and she would throw out several ideas and off I would go, scribbling like a maniac. Often, I would wind up changing the beginning that she had suggested, but her encouragement and willingness to help gave me the courage to trust my own inspiration and creativity. Try to be there for your child…always be ready to listen.
As the school year progressed, my parents attended as many school functions as they could, whether it was a meeting with the teacher or a play we were in. This showed me that what happened at school was important to my parents, and therefore, to me. Do your best to fit school functions into your schedule…if you are not able to attend an event, make sure there is someone else there to represent you so that your child doesn’t feel you don’t care…because then he might not either.

So why did I love the start of school: I believed my parents loved it also, I had new clothes and new shiny shoes, I was going to spend the day with friends, I knew my parents loved me, and I felt that school (and learning) was IMPORTANT. When my children were ready to attend school, I tried to recreate what my mother had done for me. And I hope that my children will do the same for their children.