Wondering How to Teach Kids to Eat Better? Especially During the Holidays?

Wondering how to teach kids to eat better, especially during the holidays? Here are 25 books that will nourish creativity, teach about healthy eating, and inspire a generation of activists! https://foodtank.com/news/2017/12/childrens-books-growing-minds/

Can you imagine if every school in this world had a garden? Whether a raised bed, vertical, hydro, or container garden, it would inspire a new generation of healthy eaters and lovers of local food! 

We need to teach our kids where the food they eat comes from. We also need to encourage them to try growing food, harvesting food, and preparing food. This will get them thinking about access to healthy food and health holistically. Because when everyone in a community has easy access to healthy food, this not only helps to reduce health inequities but also can strengthen a community’s economy and foster a healthier environment.

Eating locally produced foods, shopping at the farmers or local market is important for our children's health, the economy and climate change. By supporting local foods you are enabling farmers to keep more money in their pocket with every purchase you make & in turn they reinvest your contribution into the shared economy. This empowers and builds a foundation of health, connection & community resiliency!

I especially love this! This new children's book teaches children how to love imperfect produce while helping to reduce food waste through education: https://foodtank.com/news/2017/12/the-perfectly-wonky-carrot/

Best wishes for the holidays, see you all in 2018!

Gingerbread House DayCare teachers

Get Your Children Out To Play!

Here Are Four Reasons to Get Your Children Out To Play

Vancouver with it's fair weather is the perfect city for all year outdoor activity and both Fall and Winter are the perfect opportunity for kids to play outside. Unfortunately, many children are so caught up in their electronic devices that they don’t see the joy in playing in nature. 

Here's a list from the experts on why we need to get our kids moving! 

1. Combating Obesity

Kids that play outdoors will burn more calories. Indoor play does not engage children to be as physically engaged. The outdoors offers our kids more room to run, jump, climb and has the added bonus of FRESH AIR!

Plenty of U.S. and U.K studies have confirmed a direct correlation between outdoor play and reduced rates of obesity among children. More time outdoors means healthier body weight and reduced risk for chronic illness in adulthood. 

2. Developing Conflict Management

Unstructured outdoor play helps children develop "executive" skills. Social skills are an important means for children to learn how to handle conflict.  

When kids play outside, they are less likely to turn to adults to help them settle conflicts. They also tend to use their imagination more by substituting toys with nature. 

3. Improving the Mind

Here are some stats from the Nature Conservancy about how playing outside can help kids’ brains:

• After four days outside, backpackers scored 50 percent better on creativity tests
• 20 minutes of walking outdoors improves a child’s concentration levels
• 65 percent of kids say they feel “calm” and “happy” while spending time outside

4. Preserving Quality of Vision

Natural light is very helpful for developing young eyes. Time away from the computer screen allows childrens' eyes to recover and develop in a natural setting. 

If you want your kids to have good vision, send them outside to play. Scientific research found that kids who were outside for at least 14 hours were significantly less likely to need glasses later in life.