Healthy Habits Challenge #1: Kids in the Kitchen
Welcome to Thrive Inside Nutrition’s first ever Healthy Habits Challenge!
I’m thrilled to have you here!
This series of free 5-day challenges aims to help you boost overall nutrition, health and wellness for your kids and for yourself. As I often say, children’s health is family health.
This week’s challenge is focused on getting kids in the kitchen. So often we’re overwhelmed with exhaustion and a sense of I-just-need-to-get-this-done by the time we enter our kitchens, that it’s common to want to shoo our kids out from underfoot. The problem is, learning cannot take place when kids aren’t allowed to experience meal preparation and develop some basic skills.
Let’s face it: the notion of a child, tween, teen or young adult who is capable and confident in the kitchen and understands the basics of putting together a healthy meal is pretty awesome!
They have to develop those skills somewhere, so this week we’re going to dive in and prioritize welcoming kids in the kitchen.
The Details
I know you’re busy and that your family’s schedule fluctuates throughout the week. To make this challenge achievable for everyone, I’ve broken it into five (5) different tasks, or one task per day. You may tackle these tasks in any order, allowing you to schedule these as you can over the next five days. Here’s the breakdown:
Kids in the Kitchen Challenge
| Challenge | Skill-Builders | Advanced Chefs | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Train your sous chef! Allow kids to help you prep a salad. | Wash produce thoroughly, tear lettuce, practice knife skills with a guiding hand | Work the knife skills! Can you dice, slice and mince? |
| Day 2 | Make a healthy drink together. Smoothies, fruit-infused water and herbal tea are all great options. | Focus on taste. What tastes good in a smoothie? Can you add a vegetable (spinach and carrots hide well in smoothies)? | Dig deeper - what vitamins are in your healthy drink? Or, does your herbal tea have secret healing properties? |
| Day 3 | Kids choose a NEW vegetable for the whole family to try. | Let kids work on those sous chef skills again, watch a video on how to prepare your vegetable together, and discuss the flavor (including likes/dislikes). Be honest, but use good manners! | Research how to prepare and cook this vegetable. How will you season it? Journal about the experience - draw a picture of it and write down what you like or didn't like about the texture or flavor. If you made it again, what would you do differently? |
| Day 4 | Kids create a balanced plate for one meal. | Focus on color. How many different colors are on your plate? | Choose a variety of colors and textures (crunchy, soft) on your plate. How is this different from your usual plate? Can you draw your favorite meal and fit it into a balanced plate layout? |
| Day 5 | Choose a recipe for a meal and create it together. | Learn to measure, work on sous chef skills, and create your balanced plate. Learn to set the table and make this a family event! | Can you find a recipe and create your own balanced meal (using the balanced plate)? Use your knife skills, math/ measuring skills, and learn to use the stove or oven with a parent's supervision. Create a table decoration or place cards for the family meal. |
Join the Challenge!
Our Facebook Group will be the main “location” where we’ll chat about the challenge, share our stories, and where I will share support, recipes and tips. Want to join us? Click on the image below to request to join the group and take part in the fun. I can’t wait to see you there!
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