Teaching kids about food, nutrition, and health is something that can never begin too early. I already talked about allowing kids to help out in the kitchen and that’s one great way to teach them about nourishment.

kids-in-the-kitchen

I also shared the grocery basket tip for teaching kids moderation,

a-lesson-in-moderation

and fun fruit creations.

img_9995

Another idea when it comes to kids and food is to actually have a conversation about what whole foods are. I asked my nine year old how you can tell if something is healthy and he said “It tastes bad?” and he wasn’t joking.

So I am not the head pioneer of the healthy families revolution. I am just trying to make stuff up as I realize that we’ve gotten off track. So I made this free printable to aid in a healthy food lesson for your children. It’s up to you how much processed food you want to be included in your children’s diets. For some that’s none for others it’s all about moderation. I am not implying that everyone needs to tell their children that only all natural food is good and everything man made is bad! I do think it’s good for kids to know where food comes from. What animal is pork? Where do strawberries come from? Are nuts natural? Is pizza natural? What about noodles?

In the society that we live in children are so far removed from farming and often times natural eating that sometimes they really have no clue what is healthy.
nature-or-man-made

This little printable shows different kinds of food and allows children to connect the food to it’s source. You might be surprised by what your child does or does not understand about food. It’s a simple worksheet, but could be a great tool to help get the conversation going. Click the link to get your free printable download.

https://messymom.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/nature-or-man-made.psd

This is my first time doing a printable, so let me know if you have any trouble with the download.



CaptainOfTheKitchen

I can’t believe tomorrow is the last day of October and that this is day 30 of a 31 day writing challenge.  I do hope you’ll join me for some closing thoughts on Captain of the Kitchen.