Food Games for Kids

Organizing food games for kids is an interesting idea to keep them engaged in constructive work while teaching them food basics. It is great if children learn about food and nutrition through games rather than learning them from science textbooks. One of the excellent ways to help kids learn their basics in food and nutrition is to make them learn through practical experience. It is too conventional to read about food nutrients and read recipe books for learning to cook. At times, it becomes rather boring to browse through the food and nutrition theory. It is exciting to learn about all of it through real experience. And how else can this be done if not through food games? So here I have brought you some suggestions about food games for kids.

For this game you need to prepare a chart consisting of two columns, one for the picture of a fruit or a vegetable and the other to write down the food nutrients that food item contains. For example, if the first food item in your chart is an apple, you need to write the names of the main nutrients like protein and carbohydrates in the next column opposite the picture of apple. Make a list of some commonly available foods in this way. Get hold of some fruits or vegetables from your refrigerator and place them on a table along with baskets, each labeled with one of the basic food nutrients. Ask the kids to place each of the food items in the appropriate basket depending on the nutrients they contain. The kids can refer to the chart or apply their own thinking in guessing the food nutrients each fruit or vegetable contains. In accordance with the previously given example, apples can be placed in the basket that is labeled protein or the one labeled carbohydrate.

Another food game for kids can be of matching food items with their ingredients. Prepare cards of bright pictures of different commonly known foodstuffs like a cake, a sandwich, an ice cream, a burger, etc. Prepare cards depicting pictures of the ingredients for these foodstuffs, like eggs, flour, cheese and others. Ask the kids to match the food items with their ingredients. This food game helps the children know about the ingredients of the foods they eat almost everyday. It is important that they know what bread contains, how are sandwiches prepared, what goes into the making of a delicious cake and gain a general know-how of the food they consume.

You can organize a food quiz for the kids and help in enhancing their general knowledge about food and nutrition. The quiz can consist of questions revolving around simple food recipes and nutrients contained in different foods. You can frame questions about the botanical details of some commonly consumed foods as also about their physical and nutritional characteristics. These types of quizzes encourage the kids to learn about what qualities their daily foods have, the variety of foods available in nature and their nutritional values.

Cooking sessions are a wonderful option to give the kids a practical experience of preparing a meal. You can divide the kids into groups of three or four and ask each team to prepare an item for a meal. You can distribute some simple recipes among the kids and supply them with the ingredients needed for those recipes. To make it simple, you may furnish the children with an instruction set to cook. You can supplement them with a set of health and hygiene tips and make sure they keep the kitchen neat and clean.

Food games give the kids an opportunity to learn about food while having fun. Food games serve as excellent ways to educate the children through fun and play. These games give the kids an opportunity to learn through experimentation. Food games for kids provide them with simple and interesting ways to learn the science of food and nutrition. So what are you waiting for? Spice up the next weekend with some food games for your kids.