Create Together with Colorful Food!
It is fun to plan, shop, chop, mix, and create food together!
The more we can get everyone involved in the creating process, the more confident everyone is in making healthy food they learn to love.
Your body and mind need nutrients, minerals, vitamins, proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. A colorful plate typically provides just what you need.
Chop by Color – It is fun to create with food and try to use all the colors in the rainbow!
1. Choose to make a colorful salad, taco bar, sandwich, or bowl of a variety of foods.
2. Lay out all the ingredients and choose who will chop what. A parent or older sibling can show examples about how to chop foods and use safety measures. Remember it is better to cut with the flat side of a round object.
3. Review chopping or mincing skills and how to create a safe working environment. Remember to cut fruits and veggies on a different cutting surface than meat.
4. Group colors together or mix them all up for fun.
5. Enjoy a colorful meal together!
Note: Remember to wash hands, clean tools, and cutting surfaces between foods.
For more ideas, go to our Healthy & Fun Choices YouTube Channel where we show colorful chopping!
Grocery Shopping by colors of food and as a Budgeting/Math Challenge
1. Set a budget for a day of eating. We typically find that we can spend about $3-5 a meal when we eat at home. When we eat out each meal can be around $5 and up depending on what kind of food, where we eat, and how much we want to eat.
2. Plan 3-4 meals and write the plans down on paper or in your phone. When you are doing this with your child(ren) have them write down the whole process – what do you need to make the meals? Can any of the same products be used? Can you incorporate left-overs from the night before in your breakfast? Is there anything you don’t like or something new that you would like to try? What type of utensils, measuring cups, containers, and food items are needed for you to make your meals?
3. Go to the store and select the food items that are needed.
4. While adding to your cart, add up the costs of the items on a piece of paper or bring a calculator with you. That way, you can learn how to estimate costs. You can get down to the penny or you can just measure up in your cost to get an estimation.
5. Once you have checked out, compare the cost of the items you purchased to your original budget. Are your costs higher or lower? Did you purchase exactly what you set out to get? Or did you change plans while shopping?
6. To figure out how much each meal is per person, add up the total and divide by how many people will be eating the meals. Then, figure out the average costs so you can plan for a couple more days, a week, and your month.
