Let Kids in the Kitchen Make it a Healthy Start to 2016

The Junior League of Washington wants to help you and your family make 2016 a year of good nutrition, fitness, fun and healthy living. They are inviting you, and your family and friends, to Kids in the Kitchen!

On Feb. 27, the JLW will host Kids in the Kitchen, a free healthy eating and fitness activity fair for kids, from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m., at the YMCA Anthony Bowen. 

Designed for kids ages 3-13, Kids in the Kitchen uses exercise classes such as barre, Crossfit, yoga and Zumba, demonstrations from nutritional experts and professional chefs, and other interactive activities to teach kids that a healthy lifestyle can be fun! Crafts, games, goodie bags and raffles will help keep kids engaged and will ignite their excitement surrounding nutrition and fitness!

You do not need to sign up to attend Kids in the Kitchen; however additional information is available here. 

A second Kids in the Kitchen event will help with the continuation of fitness and health goals. Mark your calendar for April 9, from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. at Children’s National Medical Center.

We hope to see you, your family and friends at Kids in the Kitchen!

Don’t Miss Out: Kids in the Kitchen – March 7

Did you miss out on the fun at Kids in the Kitchen in January?

Don’t worry – you have a second chance to join The Junior League of Washington for a free day of food, fitness, and fun on Saturday, March 7 from 10 a.m. to 2 pm. at the YMCA National Capital, 1771 Rhode Island Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20036.

If you like fun, kid-oriented exercise classes like Zumba…

If you like tasty and healthful snacks…

If you like fun arts and crafts, games, and getting your face painted…

And if you like free stuff – like goodie bags, raffle prizes, and more…

Then you will want to be at Kids in the Kitchen on March 7. We hope to see you there.

We’re also excited to have back for the third year in a row the Colgate Bright Smiles, Bright Futures Mobile Dental Van – a truck that will provide free dental screenings for its visitors up to age 12.  

For more information, please visit: http://www.jlw.org/?nd=kidskitchen

How the JLW Got ‘Kids in the Kitchen’

On Saturday, January 10 the Junior League of Washington’s (JLW) Community Events Planning
Committee held the first of two Kids in the Kitchen events for 2015. Over 100 DC-area children
– more than double last year’s attendance – visited the Children’s National Medical Center’s
Washington National Diabetes Care Complex for a day of energetic exercise, wholesome
cooking lessons, fun activities, and crafts.

 Highlights of the day included Zumba, which got kids on their feet for some moving and 
shaking. Cooking lessons with local chefs let kids put on their chef’s hats for the day: Black Restaurant Group showed them how to prepare delicious but healthful quesadillas, and
Lindamood-Bell helped kids make tasty fruit and yogurt snacks.

One of the biggest hits of the day was the Build-a-Bug activity: FRESHFARM Markets brought
fresh fruits and veggies for guests to decorate like caterpillars, puppy dogs, and scary monsters –
a souvenir to remind kids that healthy foods can be fun.

Kids also had the opportunity to get creative and hands on, making pasta necklaces with
children’s author Joy Papini, getting their faces painted by talented JLW volunteers, and sampling banana bread from the chefs at the Mayflower Hotel. Other activities taught kids how to “dress up” water to get your 8 glasses a day, and how to make smart decisions about food –
“eat this, not that.”

Thanks to all of our wonderful guests, generous sponsors, and welcoming host, the Children’s
National Medical Center, for helping make Kids in the Kitchen the success that it was. And a big
thank you to our nearly 70 JLW volunteers who braved the cold weather to provide more than
240 volunteer hours in service of this great event.

More Fun Than a Day At the Ball Park!

The Community Events Planning Committee spent Saturday, January 11th, at Children’s National Medical Center taking part in a new Kids In The Kitchen event. This was the first event in what will hopefully be a long relationship with Children’s National Medical Center.

Kids in the Kitchen’s goal is to provide children with nutritional literacy and equip them to make smart decisions about food and physical fitness. Saturday’s event took place in the Washington National’s Diabetes Care Complex within the Children’s National facility. The beautiful wing of the hospital added to the excitement of the day, with a replica of the baseball diamond from National’s Park built into the floor.

Young patients were treated to white chefs hats and goodie bags while they roamed from activity station to activity station to collect recipe cards, which fit together to form a healthy eating cook book.

The baseball theme continued throughout the activities starting with Healthy Eating Bingo. After getting three healthy foods in a row, winners received a baseball for a prize. And at the trivia station, children were quizzed about healthy foods in comparison to baseball-themed items. Did you know that a serving of fruits or veggies should be the same size as a baseball? At the face painting table, you could get a baseball painted on or if you were feeling silly, a fake mustache!

JLW will be hosting another, great Kids in the Kitchen event on Saturday, March 1st, at the YMCA National Capital. If you have young children, this event is not to be missed!

Why I Serve: Bringing Smiles

My colleague, friends and family have long since accepted that many nights I have a “Junior League thing”—especially when they see the spark that the Junior League of Washington (JLW) has added to my life since moving to D.C. nearly 8 years ago. Raised by a mother who brings new meaning to the term ‘do gooder’, a grandmother who (even into her 80s) volunteers at the town library, and later dozens of teachers at my prep school who ignited a passion for education and service in me, the JLW was the perfect organization for me to join.

Simply put, I volunteer because I love smiles. I love to smile, love to see others smile, and love to make people smile—especially those who maybe do not have as many things about which to ‘smile’. This year, I’ve had the pure pleasure of serving as the JLW’s Community Affairs Council and in that role, I’ve had the chance to be a bit of a smile fairy.

In September, over 550 of you smiled to the over 200,000 National Book Festival goers as they stood in line to meet their favorite authors, played in the PBS Kids tent, or rocked out to one of the story time bands in the Target Family Pavilion.

JLW Volunteers at the National Book Fest

Since June 2012, through joint-leadership by the Community Affairs Council and Ways and Means Council, JLW’s Resolution Read 100,000 books project has distributed nearly 50,000 books to D.C. area kids – resulting in way more than 50,000 smiles.

This fall, the Community Affairs Council, via the Targeted Grants and Volunteer Resources Committee, gave out three new grants to D.C. non-profits working to make illiteracy an issue of the past – Jubilee Jumpstart, Little Lights Urban Ministry, and Hope House, DC – resulting in many, many more smiles.

On Saturday, March 2, the Community Event Planning Committee is hosting another ‘smile-maker’ event – the free Annual Kids in the Kitchen children’s health, nutrition and fitness fair—at the YMCA National Capital (1711 Rhode Island Avenue NW) from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. At Kids in the Kitchen, children of all ages will learn how to eat smart and make healthy lifestyle choices through exciting hands-on games and demonstrations, energizing games and delicious healthy snacks. This will be my fifth Kids in the Kitchen event and I can’t wait to strap on my apron and ‘get healthy’ with the nearly 400 kids expected for Saturday’s event. 

If tasty treats and yoga-for-kids don’t get you smiling, a new partnership between the JLW, Association of Junior League International, and Colgate’s Bright Smiles Bright Futures Campaign surely will. Colgate’s Campaign, along with their Mobile Dental Van will be joining this year’s Kids in the Kitchen to provide FREE dental screenings to kids ages 1 to 12, along with a toothbrush, games and information on oral hygiene, and a ‘report card’ on their smile. As one of seven Junior Leagues selected by AJLI to partner with Colgate and the Bright Smiles Bright Futures Campaign, we are especially excited to have the van on Saturday and at Kids in the Kitchen and other JLW events in the next few months, including D.C.’s largest homeless shelter, D.C. General.

I hope to see you all on Saturday at Kids in the Kitchen, at an upcoming Resolution Read book distributions and read-aloud sessions, or other JLW events soon – I’ll be one with the big smile.

Carly Susan Rockstroh
Community Affairs Council Director

Cooking Up a Day of Fun and Nutritional Literacy at Kids in the Kitchen

Childhood obesity has more than tripled in the past 30 years. We can all agree that this is a serious problem that needs to be addressed. But what’s the best way to reverse this trend?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently launched a $25 million project that aims to train children to improve their health habits by themselves. One tactic teaches elementary school students to prepare simple, healthy snacks. Showing a child how to make easy recipes builds self-confidence and encourages healthier choices. The Junior League of Washington, for the 6th year in a row, is helping to address this issue with Kids in the Kitchen. This event will take place on Saturday, March 3rd from 10am until 2pm at the YMCA National Capital in Northwest DC.

Kids in the Kitchen is an activity fair aimed at combating childhood obesity through education on nutrition and wellness. Additionally, it’s a free day of fun open to everyone! There are some awesome cooking demonstrations, and for those of you who are fans of the Food Network, there are going to be a former contestants from The Next Food Network Star at the event. There are activities and games focused on making healthy lifestyle choices. There’s a rumor going around about a giant Twister game and an obstacle course. I sure hope it’s true! One of the fitness activities will be teaching the children yoga. Is there anything cuter than a bunch of little kids in warrior pose? Namaste indeed!

There are even crafts focused on nutrition and fitness. One that I’m particularly looking forward to is a display of unusual fruits and veggies. Sure we’ve all seen star fruit at Whole Foods but does anyone actually know what dragon fruit looks like? Or what an African Cucumber feels like? I for one would love to find out! And there are activities for kids of all ages-- including our littlest chefs who can have fun "exercising" in our toddler mat/block area.

Kids leave this high-energy event with fantastic goodie bags and giveaways. These will serve as reminders of what they’ve learned after they get home so the fun and healthy lifestyle habits can continue.

Childhood obesity is a very real problem that affects way too many children. So grab your favorite little "sous chef" and head on down to the YMCA National Capital on March 3rd!

Bon Appétit!