Here's Five Steps to Eating God's Rainbow!
Our preschool does an amazing job of encouraging the children to eat a variety of foods. They use the language - eating God's rainbow to make it kid friendly and it works like a charm. Peer pressure can be a marvelous thing. I am thrilled with the impact this little initiative has had in our house and how much more fun it is to pack lunches.
Start the Night Before: Packing lunches used to be a mundane chore for me. Now, it is something I really enjoy doing because it makes my kids happy especially Evie. Lunch prep begins while I am getting dinner ready because I am already cutting fruits and veggies. I add in the protein in the morning most of the time unless it is a quesadilla because it is fine overnight. Lunches are always two or three kinds of fruits to get lots of rainbow colors plus two or three types of veggies.
Conventional or Organic?: I only buy conventional produce with the exception of carrots and salad greens. Mostly, because we eat too much produce to justify the cost. I read this article yesterday which made me feel much better that we do not have to eat organic produce . . . released some mom guilt. Protein sources include sandwiches, chips/hummus, bagel with cream cheese, cheese/crackers, leftover pizza, pasta with Parmesan cheese, yogurt parfait and chicken nuggets.
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| Bagel with veggie cream cheese, Simply Go-Gurt, bell peppers, carrots, kiwi, strawberries, and blueberries. |
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| Hummus and Pretzel chips, apple sauce, snap peas, carrots, bell peppers, black berries, blueberries, strawberries |
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| Quesadilla, kiwi, blackberries, strawberries, snap peas, sweet peas, carrots |
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| Turkey and Cheese, oranges, strawberries, blueberries, kiwi, snaps, bell peppers |
Pictures of this weeks Lunches: Evie is thrilled to take her lunch everyday! I took pictures of her lunch every morning this week so you can get an idea of what her lunches look like - much different than last year. No goldfish, crackers, granola bars etc. She eats plenty of those things just not at school because they are not part of God's rainbow. Evie is a rule follower just like her Mama and she would die before taking a chocolate chip granola bar to school. It cracks me up and makes me proud all at the same time. Henry gets what Evie gets most of the time but he still eats granola bars or Pirate Booty. He does not eat enough fruits and veggies to fill up yet. Henry needs protein and carbs!
How Eating God's Rainbow Works? After lunch, the teachers mark each color on the rainbows for each child - that's red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. We get a pass because indigo and blue count as the same color for this activity. Trust me, it's hard to find blue food! I've paid way too much for blueberries for my precious little rainbow maker.
When the rainbow is filled up, the children go to Ms. Katie's Treasure Box - this is BIG! She's the Music and Wellness teacher and these kids think she walks on water. The Giraffe class hides their desserts when she walks in the room. Not Evie since she does not have any desserts but the ones who do hide them because they want to please Ms. Katie so much. Ms. Katie is just one of those amazing teachers that really gets kids and kids get her.
CHOCOLATE: Don't worry - chocolate is still is a food group at our house! Oh and for the record breakfast and lunch are our two healthiest meals of the day - it does downhill after that!
I love this Jennifer! You shoukd be proud of yourself and Evie!we are encouraged to be healthy as well since Avery is at a Y preschool too, but she rarely mentions the lady checking lunches. We get things like arm curl challenges....color in for every day your family does arm curls! Sometimes I think it's more homework for the parents. Do they heat Evie's quesadilla, pasta, nuggets, etc? They do not heat for Avery, which I totally understand, so she sticks to sandwiches, cheese and crackers, etc.
ReplyDeleteThey just eat the items right out of their lunch box. I do put ice packs in there so they may be a little cold but I like cold pizza and Chick fil A chicken nuggets are pretty good cold too. Love the arm curl idea! So cute!
DeleteThis made me smile. Love it. Eating God's rainbow indeed!!! :)
ReplyDeletexx
I think that is a great idea and makes it fun for the kids. I teach in a public school and wish they could do more with the lunches to make them healthy. They have tried healthy foods but prepare them in such a way that no one, not even the adults will eat them . For example they tried squash. Now I love baked squash in the oven with some olive oil and seasoning but instead they boil it to the point where it is limp and chewy and then want the kids to eat it. NO Thank You!
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome...I'm constantly stressing about Aubrey's lunches because all she wants are hot dogs! I love the hummus idea and all that fruit!! Where did you get your lunch containers? Awesome post...maybe some more ideas next week!!!
ReplyDeleteJennifer -- of course they watch tv! :) It's typically the first thing we do when we wake up too, but the first day of the month is a special day since Emily gets her (monthly) sticker book. I think she loves stickers even more than tv!
ReplyDeleteLove the look of your rainbow lunches! Jessica would be a fan, but Emily would hate that all the different fruits/vegetables are touching! (especially since she doesn't like most of them). Emily is as picky as it gets -- she doesn't even eat sandwiches. For now her lunches are: cooked noodles with parmesan cheese (for dipping) or crackers and cheese; chopped kiwi or strawberries, sliced cucumbers, and cheerios. She won't eat anything else!