• Good nutrition and health have to be worked on daily until they become part of your life and your children's life. Soon it will be routine for your family to eat healthy foods and love the way that it makes them feel.
• Food learning occurs during the first five years of a child's life. What you as a parent do from day to day can affect your children's health when they grow older.
• Encourage new foods. It takes at least 10 times of tasting new foods before your child knows if he or she likes it. Be patient and offer new foods with old favorites. The more your child is exposed to new foods, the more accepting he will be of different tastes. Smile when you try new foods together.
• Let your child touch, smell and feel new foods. If he doesn't eat it, try it again another day.
• Never insist your child clean his plate
• Offer food only when your child is hungry (which is also a good time to offer new foods).
• Do not use food as a reward or a punishment.
• Let your child help you prepare snacks and meals. Children are more likely to eat foods they help prepare.
• Don't try new foods when your child doesn't feel well or is tired.
• Set a goal of trying one new food every week. Make it into an adventure.

EXCITING PLANS FOR OUR WEBSITE

I am astounded at all the different countries where people are learning nutrition from our kids' site. Parents and children are hungry for health information. Our lesson plans are being downloaded all over the world! Some people who purchased my posters back in ‘80s and ‘90s are now using the lesson plans for their own children and grandchildren.

My goal was to make learning about nutrition fun and to simplify it so children could understand and want to feel healthy. No disguising healthy foods, just sending positive messages and teaching kids why they are eating foods that keep them healthy and strong. The children then understand what helps prevent illness or gives them strength or energy to run and do well in school.

Our kids' site has been very popular. In 2011 we will have a new interactive kids' site full of fun and nutritional info while maintaining a whimsical feel. Jasper, your quirky guide, will take your children on a journey through his bizarre land where you will meet a variety of characters, each one a personified food that shares with children the gifts that they offer them, such as energy or strength. There is also a storybook that will follow and interweaves the themes of friendship, education and health.

In addition in the spring of 2011, look for new lesson plans for grades 3 to 5. Heather S. Kahn will be creating new lesson plans, with our illustrator Dan Burau doing design, for our work with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation organization. We feel very fortunate that hospitals, universities, health clinics, departments of educations, research and educations networks and individuals all over the world are downloading our lesson plans, games and other materials.

We are ecstatic at the feedback and positive e-mails. We are teaching kids about nutrition early in order to build healthy patterns that will stay with them, giving them good health through every stage of life. It's never too late to start, so come back to visit with your family and friends and let's all learn to be healthy together!

ALLIANCE FOR A HEALTHIER GENERATION APPROVES OUR LESSON PLANS!

We received some exciting news recently -- our lesson plans have been approved by the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, which was founded by the American Heart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation to combat childhood obesity. Specifically, we can say: "The Alliance for a Healthier Generation has approved the ChrisSare4Kids.com lesson plans to be included in the Healthy Schools Resource Database used by schools enrolled in their Healthy Schools Program."

We feel very gratified that our concept has received such prestigious recognition. Much of the credit goes to our education consultant, Heather Kahn, who has a multiple-subject clear Crosscultural, Language, and Academic Development (CLAD) credential with a multicultural emphasis, as well as a bachelor's degree in biology. A proud mother of two sons, Heather has used many of her teaching strategies, lesson plans, and activities featured on ChrisSare4Kids.com at home and hopes to inspire a healthy lifestyle and eco-awareness with her children and other families. Visit our website and use these materials at home and at school for your family's health. Together, we can build a healthier generation.