Teaching Your Children About Real Food By melissaoconnor

Teaching children about food and where it comes from is so important. Now, more than ever, we must get our kids involved. Make them aware of the natural amazing foods that the Earth gives us and teach them the benefits of all these yummy treats. They need to know that vegetables, fruits and grains are the most healthy and beneficial foods they can eat. You need to get this in their heads while they are young so as they grow up they can see the difference between the "real" food and the "processed" food. Being a parent is such an important job. If you don't do this for your children than no one will. Don't depend on your schools or your community to do your job for you! Take responsibility NOW and do what is right for your kids.

A great way to do this is to have a garden of your own. Get your children involved in the growing process so they can see first hand how awesome it is. They will get excited, believe me. Once they see how something grows they can appreciate it more. Then when they see how the plant can be cooked in so many ways it will allow them to get creative and hopefully inspire them to learn more.

I came across some great games you can get that will help you out with this issue. What child doesn't love games! Check these few out and be on your way to spreading the garden love.

Eboo - Gathering Garden
This board game for 5 yrs and up is such a cute way to get your children excited about fresh food & plants. The game itself is made out of recycled materials and no plastic. Love that! The game shows your kids to collect flowers, veggies and more from vendors and gather enough items for their garden. The first one to get home first wins. Im sure your kids will love it. At $9.00 you can't go wrong!

Ravensburger - Mystery Garden
This game is all about what is what. Its suggested for 4 year olds and up and not only teaches your child how to think and ask questions but also how to place a name on things. The artwork on the board itself is beautiful and the rules are fairly simple. Someone plays the Secret Keeper who picks up picture tiles to view the photo (something on the board). Then the other players have to ask simple yes and no questions to try to guess what the picture is. Which each correct guess the player wins the tile and gets to move ahead in the game on a 15 rock path. Fairly simple and highly educational. A great combination! You can purchase this game for $12.00 on Amazon.

Ampersand Press - The Garden Game
Another great game to check out, The Garden Game focuses on science and nature in more of an educational way. This one is more for kids ages 8 and up and celebrates the seasons. Cultivating their own gardens your children will learn how to feed the soil, plant seeds, nurture the plants and harvest. Even celebrate at harvest festivals and help other players through natural disasters! What a great way to teach them about the realistic issues they would have to deal with. I am all about that! The winner must save the most seeds and plant the largest garden. Not only will this game be fun but it will get your kids excited about farming. It also won 2 awards; Dr. Toy Award in 2002 and the Dr. Toy Best Vacation Children's Products Winner. I highly recommend this one! Right now its on sale on Education Learning Games for $24.99. You can also purchase it on Gardening with Kids for $29.95.