This year, I took on the challenge of starting a 4th grade cooking club at New Hampton Elementary. I thought I might be a little crazy allowing 9-10 year olds use very sharp knives, but I am proud to say after 7 successful cooking clubs, not one kid cut themselves using a knife!! Continue reading
Spring has always been one of my favorite seasons. Everything smells fresh and new and it is finally warm enough to get outside for some nice, long walks. I do cooking clubs once a month, but I was itching to do something to get the kids outside and moving. At New Hampton Middle School, I started a walking club for 6th grade students, and at St. Joe’s for 3rd-4th graders. Each club will go for six weeks, meeting once a week. I will be keeping track of how many miles we walk as a club, and at the end of six weeks, we will have a party to celebrate our success! Continue reading
With the nice weather and school coming to an end in May, kids have definitely started to get spring fever. Many teachers are noticing their students are having trouble focusing during the day. This month, I wanted to do an activity with the kids that would help them re-focus their thoughts. I found a story online that incorporated Star Wars and Yoga. As a fan of the movies, I was excited to try this with the kids. Continue reading
This month in cooking club, we focused on making healthy snacks. Previously, I had asked the kids what they wanted to make at the next cooking club. I presented them with a few options, one of my favorites being kale chips. To my surprise, a majority of the kids wanted to make kale chips. Some of the 4th graders at New Hampton remembered when I did a taste test in the beginning of the school and remembered enjoying them. Continue reading
Many kids know the phrase “Taste the Rainbow” from the skittles commercial, but on St. Patricks day, Kindergartners through 2nd graders at St. Joseph Community School were able to eat the rainbow by trying a variety of fruits and vegetables. 
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Two students from 7th grade on the wellness team at St. Joseph Community School decided they wanted to teach a lesson about healthy heart foods in the spirit of Valentine’s Day with pre-schoolers and 1st/2nd graders. They came up with lesson and ideas all on their own and arranged scheduling a time to go into the classrooms. Unfortunately, late starts and snow days prevented us from doing this closer to Valentine’s Day. Continue reading
For weeks, my cooking club students have been begging me to make cookies with them. So far we had done pita pizzas with vegetables, zucchini noodles, and smoothie bowls, but nothing from the baked goods category. I finally caved in and told them we would make cookies, but we were going to make them using some substitutions. Continue reading
For the month of January and February, students from New Hampton and St. Joe’s have been learning out the parts of plants and how they can eat all the parts of a plant by eating a variety of vegetables. Continue reading
As part of Catholic Schools week, students were asked to think about what it means to treat their body as temple. One way we can take care of ourselves is by putting good food into our body that nourishes and sustains us. On Wellness Tuesday I worked with students from Pre-School all the way up to 8th grade to make a healthy snack with them. Continue reading
This month, the New Hampton Elementary and St.Joe’s cooking clubs both had the opportunity to try a trendy new food: smoothie bowls! Continue reading
