By Lynn Bakken
What is a healthy snack? Something eaten not at a regular meal time. Do we need snacks? Do kids need snacks? Snacks are fun, and at times can be lost in junk food and eaten in mindless inattention. What if snack time could be something totally fun AND nutritious? Check it out!
What if a healthy snack was a time for presence, full focus of the food being eaten. What if, since a snack is small and eaten faster than a “meal” you and your children could play a game of the senses. What does the food smell like? Is it savory, sweet, minty? What does it smell like? How about the colors, the brighter the foods the better, especially with fruits an vegs. Really spend some time here before you and your child bite into the food. Then take a very small bite and roll it around in the mouth. What is the texture and finally the taste. Oh, the outstanding taste, salty, sour, sweet, yummy, yucky, allow for all and any responses. Kids don’t have to like every thing that you offer, but keep offering new options. Snacks are a great time to make these offerings since it s not a big deal if the child doesn’t eat them. It’s not like their entire food for the day depends on them eating this food. It’s a snack for God’s sake! Have fun at snack time.
So now that you have spent time with the senses and the food, next time try different foods with the eyes closed and no touching, feed each other a food, kids feed parent and parent to kids, the can guild trust and a new game. See if you each can get the snack into your mouth without touching it.
Snacks can be the funnest thing in the world. What about going to the store and seeing what new snack you can create that takes nothing other than your hands to eat. No needing for tableware,like any fruits, OK most fruits and vegs. Go beyond the fruits and vegs to other nutritious foods that can be a hands only snack. Get creative! Try some interesting sauces on snacks, try making humus with new ingredients, let your kids pick the new ingredients for the humus or salsa, that way then can learn what things taste good together and what things they don’t like.
Remember what you ate as a snack as a kid and share those experiences with your kids. Talk about those that were great and great for you and those that were so yummy and not so good for the tummy. Discuss what makes one snack better than another. Perhaps it’s the taste, texture, the nutrition or not. How about making a new snack that no one has ever had before. Create a new mix of granola rolls with new and exciting grains. Again anything can be a snack and it’s a great time to play with food, do you allow your kids to play with their foods, snack time is play time.
Can you take these suggestions and begin to use them at your snack time at work? Take the time to truly experience the foods that you eat. Know them intimately then you can be more open to your kids playing with their snacks.
Snack: what is a snack but a time out with food. Make snacks fun and healthy. Time out of the rush and stress of the day to play and enjoy the foods we are eating and knowing that.
Author is passionate about nutrition in children and how it effects their physical bodies, emotional and energetic health. With many years as a pediatric nurse practitioner skilled in nutrition and health counseling, she is now bringing her expertise to the wide world of the web. In addition the author is an independent USANA Health Sciences associate, offering the opportunity to provide the best in nutritional supplements to complement her nutritional counseling.
http://nutritioninchildren.com
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