A Little Fuel for After School

My 7-year-old gets off the bus at 3:30 p.m. every day and skips towards me with a big smile, thrilled to be home after a long day navigating the hallways of her elementary school. But as soon as she walks in the door, her smile disappears and she begins to beg to watch TV and eat cookies.

Faced with the prospect of tackling homework and heading out to various after school activities, my daughter would much rather collapse on the couch. Unfortunately, I've found that vegging out immediately after a long day leaves her cranky and short-tempered instead of reviving her energy.

In order to avoid the TV temptation, I like to welcome her with a fun activity centered around a snack to help her relax. I find this especially helpful when she has a friend over for a play date. The combined whining power of two tired elementary school kids can be difficult to overcome if you're not prepared.

I recently put my daughter and her friend to work in staging an after school tea party, complete with animal cheese sandwiches and sweet treats.

Simple kitchen chores can help young kids practice hand-eye coordination and learn about shapes, colors, smells and tastes before dinner. As children grow older, they are able to learn about recipes which can challenge their reading and math skills, too. Plus, cooking is also a great way for them to try new foods which is always a challenge.

Being in the kitchen can also teach kids to plan ahead, cooperate with others and follow through with a task. Most importantly, your time in the kitchen can provide you with invaluable time together. With a pinch of love and a dash of imagination, you can turn your kitchen into a learning laboratory.

Children develop skills at different rates, so it's important to have an adult introduce children to skills that match their ability level. In general:

• 2-3-year-olds can: wash and scrub vegetables, name and count foods, break bread into pieces, tear lettuce to make a salad, talk about colors and shapes.
  
  
• 3-4-year-olds can: shape meatballs, shell peas, peel bananas, mix dry ingredients together, pour pre-measured liquids into batter, talk about tastes and smells.
  
  
• 4-5-year-olds can: break eggs into a bowl, help to measure out ingredients, open packages, pour cereal, wipe up after cooking, press cookie cutters into dough or soft food, sort and classify foods.
  
  
• 6-8-year-olds can: fill and level measuring cups and spoons, set the table, beat ingredients with a wire whisk, mash soft fruits and vegetables, learn about food groups.
  
  
• 8-10-year-olds can: use a can opener, use a microwave oven, prepare simple recipes with a few ingredients, practice reading and math skills.

If you have children around the house who often choose snacks without supervision, consider adopting a few tricks to help them pick. For example:

• Keep a list of snacks on the refrigerator door as a reminder of choices they should make most often
  
  
• Use one shelf in your pantry or one bin in your refrigerator to stock "everyday" snacks that kids can choose from
  
  
• Keep other "sometimes" snacks – like potato chips or ice cream – out of sight and out of mind