Another school year has come to an end but that does not mean that learning has to take a vacation; especially in the area of nutrition education. With kids home for the summer no doubt your grocery bill will see a noticeable increase. It would be easy to fall into the trap of stocking up on the many processed foods on the market and feeding these to your busy family. But summer is a great time to focus on the “Why, When, Where, and How” as it relates to nutrition education.

Food is a source of energy. Choosing healthy foods provides the energy to grow and play, and provides the building blocks of a strong, healthy body that aids in the growth and development of young children. Good nutrition habits can potentially increase academic success and decrease health care cost in the future.

It is important to teach children about healthy foods and their health benefits. When children learn these lessons at a young age, they are more likely to make healthier food choices throughout their adult life. As stated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, healthy eating reduces risk for obesity, dental caries, and several diseases that can lead to death such as diabetes, heart disease and stroke.

Anytime can be a great time to incorporate nutrition education, such as mealtime, story time, and play time. Parents can use every opportunity to teach children about making nutritious food choices. Nutrition education can occur at any location. Planting and caring for a garden together with kids is a wonderful learning experience. As fresh vegetables ripen, let children get involved in preparing recipes using the produce. Invite children to experience new foods through taste testing and preparing simple snacks. The more children are exposed to healthy foods, the more likely they are to try them. (And like them.)

The “Eat Real America” and “Kids A Cookin’” web sites are excellent resources as you work with your children to learn basic cooking skills this summer. There are lots of recipes complete with a nutrition facts label. You can find these sites by going to www.eatrealamerica.com and www.kidsacookin.ksu.edu Let me know if you have any questions about nutrition education with kids this summer.

Donna Krug is the Family & Consumer Science Agent and District Director with K-State Research and Extension – Cottonwood District. You may reach her at: (620)793-1910 or [email protected]

For folks who’ve seen more than their share of drought and blowing dirt, things have rapidly changed following recent storms. Instead of puddles just big enough for a bird to bathe in, running water fills fields, ditches, and culverts until it breaks through dikes, terraces, and highways. All too frequently, Mother Nature ignores the concept of balance when she’s dealing with her Great Plains. Despite the extra labor humans will have repairing storm damaged leaks, terraces, roads and more over the next weeks, robins delight in the emergence of scores of waterlogged worms.

During dry times, only gardeners digging in their flower and vegetable beds get a chance to meet the writhing neighbors that live right beneath us in reportedly huge numbers. One source commented that the mass of worms living beneath our soil surface outweighs creatures who live above ground. I’d like to find supporting documentation because that’s an impressive fact if it’s true.

Recollecting sophomore biology lessons, I learned that many of those wriggling creatures don’t have pulmonary systems like ours. Instead, they breathe through their skin so when soil soaking rains deluge a region these guys head for high ground. Humans who rose early and headed outside into the humid morning air undoubtedly noted scores of sodden earth worms covering sidewalks and any other high ground they could reach with their expiring muscle contractions.

At this point, this popular fish bait looks bleached and swollen. Once the sun rises and evaporates extra moisture from the air, what looks like an inflated bit of cellophane tubing shrivels into a crunchy, brown wire-like form. In the past, I’ve picked up more than one thinking it could cause a potential flat tire.

Before these carcasses desiccate, birds still fluffing their feathers to dry them after the earlier wind and rain perform their own thankful happy dance for the abundant feast lying at their feet. For at least a moment, they won’t have to work so hard for their dinner. Celebrating as they hop up and down the streets, gutters, and sidewalks, they gobble plump annelids left and right. I suspect mommas of the species are especially grateful, if bird brains have such thoughts, as many are responsible for nests full of hungry mouths noisily awaiting food.

Concerned about shriveled crops and blowing topsoil, many of us have prayed for rain over the past months. All hoped it would fall gently over a period of weeks. As so often happens in this region, our petitions were answered all at once. The powerful response descended in such a way it damaged much in its path.

While I’m sorry for the work this creates, knowing lakes, streams, and ponds are full comforts me. Watching hungry birds snarf up half-drowned worms is a bonus that makes me smile. They, too, may have to rebuild a nest or even court again if gusting winds knocked their hatchlings to the ground. Despite such issues, birds devour the banquet before them and trill tunes that I like to imagine express gratitude for the needed moisture.

Native Kansan Karen Madorin is a local writer and retired teacher who loves sharing stories about places, people, critters, plants, food, and history of the High Plains.