When my children were in elementary school they thought it was cool to take their lunches in a fun lunch box. Sometimes I would surprise them with a clever, creative food inside. The memory of this, plus knowing I wanted to teach my child development students about healthy foods choices for children triggered this lesson and project. I assign this as a take home project but this could easily be done in a foods lab or even as a creative competition!
Many of my students can’t wait to finish high school and enter the adult world. I try to encourage them to enjoy their lives as teens because with adulthood comes much responsibility! They truly understand that statement after completing the activities that one must be responsible for as adults such as calculating paychecks in order to create a budget and finally the one that everyone “loves” so much, paying taxes. These are all real life, practical skills that students are going to need to know how to perform once they are out on their own. This simulation was designed to give students a taste of what’s to come, using random jobs/incomes to do so. In the end, while students understood the need to know how to do all of the simulation, they weren’t quite as eager to be on the fast track to adulthood!
Most parents and caregivers want well behaved children, but how does that happen? Children need adults not only to discipline but be positive role models, by teaching guiding and supporting them along the way. This lesson helps students determine positive and negative techniques used to guide children’s behavior.
Using an existing fairy tale, students will reinvent it, adapting it to a modern day lifestyle. Characters from another tale can be stolen and brought into their updated tale. The student will be able to conclude how thinking “outside the box” and using imagination can lend itself to the creation of a more appealing story for a child.
Who would have thought that the age old canning jar would be perfect for dessert food labs! When choosing recipes for labs I try to select recipes so students get a nice sample to taste, but leave very little, if any leftovers. Not only does this cut down on waste, money spent on ingredients, but it also forces students to practice portion control and eliminates arguing over who gets the extras.
Lately I’ve seen a lot of really innovative projects made out of old sweaters, especially on Pinterest. This got me thinking about what a great project this would be for my students to practice the concept of recycling or repurposing materials. So I visited my local thrift store and lucky for me they had a clearance rack of clothing, much of it old wool sweaters. I gathered as many as I could find into my cart and headed for the check out. The possibilities that could be made with all of these sweaters were endless! I couldn’t wait to challenge my students and see how creative they could be and teach them to recycle/repurpose as well as teach basic sewing skills at the same time.
