Self-reliance at home, and particularly in the kitchen, is more than just a buzzword; and encouraging self-reliance might be the key to jumpstarting the school year and fostering a successful family dynamic for the months to come.
The world has definitely changed and these days many parents might feel as if a course in operations management might have better prepared them for the new normal. Certainly, the most successful families will be those that tackle household management collaboratively and navigate the multi-tiered sets of rules associated with living, working and learning together in a confined space for the indefinite future.
Children, even very young children, can actively participate in simple meal preparation tasks. And learning to make their own lunches is a good starting point, regardless of whether they are taking their lunch bag to school or eating at home. Children might balk at seemingly silly chores, like emptying the dishwasher, but intuitively they all understand the significance of feeding themselves and their family. Once they master the art of school lunches, they can contribute their skills to the remaining family meals.
Tips for Kid-Driven Nutritious Meal Planning
- Provide a basic food safety and sanitation lesson. Skills like how to wash hands before working in the kitchen, use a knife, pre-wash produce and avoid cross-contamination; and how to effectively clean countertops and wash their own dishes and utensils after each use.
- Teach a basic healthy meal lesson. This should include tips for how to prepare a healthy lunch, a list of healthy ingredient options and proper portion sizes. Even small children should be taught to avoid gooey treats, sugary beverages, salty snacks, and processed foods.
- Set up guidelines for the older children to follow when helping younger siblings prepare their lunches. Determine which specific tasks the younger children are allowed to carry out in the kitchen and when the older children should step in and assist them.
- Allow for a dry run. Even kids need to practice time management skills, so set aside a time in the day for lunch prep and allow every child to practice their new responsibilities.
- Make sure ingredients and supplies are accessible to everyone. Naturally, this might include stepping stools for younger children, but it could also include the prepping of specific ingredients, like hard-boiled eggs, ahead of time for children too young to use the stovetop.
- Encourage children to use a shopping list. Hang a whiteboard or notepad in the kitchen so ingredients and supplies can be readily replenished.
- Encourage the children to watch online cooking and nutrition videos. The video below is a (very elementary) tutorial on making nutritious meals that even younger children will be able to follow: How to Make a Healthy Plate.
Meal Planning Guidelines
When parents pack a school lunch, the nutritional quality frequently does not meet the standard requirements. If parents have difficulty, in the best of times, packing an appropriate school lunch, how can they ensure that their own children will do any better, or at least avoid the pitfalls of snacking throughout the day while studying remotely at home? Many popular kids’ food items are deceptively unhealthy, but parents rely on them because they are convenient and easy to stock up on. Without knowing it, a child’s diet can easily exceed the daily limit for saturated fats, sodium, and sugar. Fun size snacks and seemingly healthy foods, like bottled salad dressings, canned vegetables and soups, and lean cold cuts can be fat-sugar-salt bombs in disguise. Sodium in Packaged Foods. Yet many unhealthy foods can be exchanged for healthier, whole food options, which are easy to make at home if the preparations are kept simple. Even little chefs can master the basics.
Children have varying nutritional requirements, particularly children with specific dietary or medical needs or limitations, so make sure to consult with a doctor and a dietitian for more personalized recommendations. The sources below are a good starting point, but they are not a substitute for customized advice from a medical professional.
- Mayo Clinic Nutrition Guidelines for Children
- Harvard Kids’ Healthy Eating Plate
- Weight and Dietary Guidance for Children
- USDA MyPlate Meal Planning
- USDA Calorie and Nutrition Data
