Ever since I read Michael Pollan's book In Defense of Food, I have been more conscious of what my family eats. As a parent, I worry that kids are getting bombarded with so many choices of what to eat at such an early age that the nutritional differences between food (e.g. potatoes, eggs, milk, butter) and "edible foodlike substances" (e.g. potato chips, protein bars, soda, margarine) go by the wayside. I love Melissa and Doug's Play Food products because it gets kids excited about food and nutrition at an early age and in a fun, interactive way.
When my son was 18 months old, his aunt bought him his first Melissa and Doug play food - Cutting Food. It came with 8 food pieces - watermelon, tomato, cucumber, french bread, sliced bread, apple, green pepper and carrot - and a cutting board and knife. Cole loved the toy because he liked the crunching sound whenever he cut up each food. He also loved to pretend to serve meals, concocting original recipes like apple and carrot sandwiches and watermelon and cucumber on French bread.
Besides keeping his attention for at least 20 minutes (key at that age!) Melissa and Doug's Cutting Food has been a great teaching tool. First we identified what the names of the different foods were and which ones were his favorites to eat (tomatoes, apples and cucumbers). We also talked about the different colors. As he's gotten older, we also learned to count the pieces and talk about parts vs. the whole.
It has been a year since Cole got his Cutting Food play set, and he still plays with it. And he has since added Pizza and the Felt Sandwich Set to his collection!
What are other ways to teach kids about food and nutrition! Post a comment below and share with us!
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