After attending a presentation of Rainbows cooking classes for kids at camp meeting, Virginia Deacon and Morleen Flerchinger of Clarkston, Washington, decided we could do this at our Clarkson Church. In consideration of the almost epidemic proportion of diabetes and obesity in children, we wanted to educate young junior chefs about how their body works and the best care to give them so they could avoid obesity, diabetes and could have clear minds to receive the gospel message.
"Eat More Rainbows" started with four children and two table helpers at six different tables. Each table was a color of the rainbow, and the participants at the table wore color coordinated chef hats and aprons of that color.
Rainbows had eight sessions of emphasis on eight different rainbow colors of fruits and vegetables. It included a tasting session of the various raw fruits and vegetables in that day’s color of the rainbow. It also included a catchy tune, “Every Little Cell,” that we exercised to as well as physiology presentations about the brain, the bones, the muscles, the digestive system and more. The eight laws of health were also presented. Each of the children were involved in preparing familiar foods with enhanced nutritional values.
The sessions were concluded with games that challenged the kids' memory of what they had learned that day.
This year was the second year we presented the Rainbows program. We had so many applications, we had to put them on a waiting list. Staff and children alike enjoyed the programs and learned about a lot of healthier choices they could make.
