As it is summer and our kids are out of school, many of us are challenged with trying to keep our little angels well fed and well hydrated during  what is normally lots of sun and outdoor physical activity.  My son and daughter head off to camp for most of the day so besides wanting to make sure they eat a good breakfast before they get on the bus, I worry about them drinking enough throughout the hot, sunny day and I also worry about what they eat for lunch. Even though the camp offers the basic kid favorites like hot dogs and hamburgers, I try and encourage them not to fill up on lots of heavy foods before running back out into the heat for hours. Their camp always has a salad bar available as well as lighter options like turkey sandwiches on wheat bread but as we all know, our kids will grab what looks like the tastiest option at the moment and never consider the consequences or weigh the options. When their day at camp is over , all the kids are offered an ice pop or an ice cream bar before they board the bus. In my never ending efforts to steer them to the lighter fare, I have explained why the ice pop is the more thirst quenching , and more hydrating option but as I meet them at the bus each afternoon, I can see by the frequent occurrence of chocolate around their mouths that they have chosen to throw caution to the wind.  And then there’s dinner…

Why, you may ask, am I boring you with all of this personal information?  My kids are already at  a stage where they need to be making smart food choices given their family history (generations of “chubsters”). So many of their friends can eat whatever, whenever with no apparent downside but as we all experience as we get older, that ability to eat “whatever, whenever” catches up eventually. So I say, lets equip our kids with as much info about nutrition as we can now,  so they have it at the ready whenever they need to put it to use.

As with everything else these days, our kids seem to absorb information most easily when it comes from the TV or better yet, a computer game. I came across a web site (http://www.nutritionexplorations.org/kids/main.asp) that is not only filled with important facts but it is also all about fun. There are activities, games, contests, kid friendly recipes and even a kids’ panel. The whole site is designed to educate and entertain and I promise it will hold your child’s interest and hopefully elevate their nutritional IQ’s without their even knowing it!