Junior League hosts ‘Kids in the Kitchen’

The Junior League of Fort Smith hosted Kids in the Kitchen at the AMP'D Outreach Center of East Side Baptist Church on Saturday (Feb. 4) to demonstrate that eating healthy and exercising can be fun with little effort.

Upon entering the free event, each child was given a goody bag containing a drink box, pedometer, information sheets on portions sizes and nutrition labels, coloring pages and other goodies.

The first stop was a bank of tables called the Farmer's Market. Small baskets filled with tomatoes, carrots and strawberries were set on one table, while bananas were piled high on another. The Farmer's Market also had signs with nutritional information on the items.

Hands-on healthy eating was featured in the main gymnasium. Junior League members assisted with the construction of Scooter Snacks, Banana Dippers and Ants on a Log. Chick-fil-A was also giving out miniature yogurt parfaits with a strawberry on top — an item that is on the restaurant's menu.

The Scooter Snacks were arguably the most creative use of fruits and vegetables. A piece of string cheese formed the chassis of the scooter. The wheels were made from zucchini slices. Hubcaps were cherry tomatoes cut in half. Green olives became headlights and taillights and pretzel sticks were used for the axles and handlebars. All the components were held together using vegetable cream cheese as edible mortar.

Another station featured a yogurt ranch dip and Ants on a Log — celery sticks packed with peanut butter and topped with raisins.

Some treats, such as The Banana Dippers, tested the boundaries of low-, snacks. The dippers consisted of a banana coated in melted chocolate and adorned with sprinkes, nuts or candies. Food has to be fun and taste good too for kids to eat it. Although the candy and sprinkles are not healthy, the banana is. The key to eating healthy is moderation of the not-so-good stuff.

Physical fitness activities were in an adjacent room. Kids were able to burn off the calories by jumping a line of small hurdles, weaving through a course of cones while holding a beach ball between their knees, hula-hooping and hopping a row of inflated half-domes.

Students from the Fort Smith Taekwondo Academy demonstrated moves and taught the children kicks and stretches. A rock climbing wall was also popular. Volunteers from East Side Baptist Church manned the safety ropes and provided coaching as youngsters searched for hand and foot holds on their way to the top.

"Our goal is to tackle childhood obesity," said Kids in the Kitchen chairman Amy Tyler. The annual event is a national initiative by the Junior League.

Tyler said almost 300 children attended, which is slightly more than last year's  265. Fliers promoting the event were placed in all Fort Smith schools.

The event is underwritten by First National Bank of Fort Smith with additional funds provided by the Fort Smith Junior League ways and means projects — most notably the Holiday Market.