CLEVELAND — Here’s a behind-the-scenes story for you: Monday morning at 6:45, I was just about to wrap up the morning show from my living room when I heard someone getting sick upstairs. I couldn’t run and see what was going on because I was still on air.
But when the show was done, I saw two little guilty faces at the top of the stairs.
“Are you sick?? What’s wrong? Do you have a fever?” I asked at a rapid-fire pace.
“No,” said Scarlett, “I think I’m just hungry.”
I knew I wasn’t getting the full story. All day I worried that we were getting the stomach bug in our house. But just before dinner, I had the epiphany … they must have snuck a bunch of their Easter candy!
“Did you eat your Easter candy without me knowing?”
Two guilty faces nodded and even smiled with pride.
OK. Time for a life lesson here.
One of our favorite books is the Very Hungry Caterpillar. And if you remember, he eats a ton of junk food and gets a tummy ache, so he eats a nice green leaf and feels better.
When I saw an empty egg carton looking very caterpillar-like, I figured this could be a great art project! I cut the rows of egg carton lengthwise and set up the paints. I told the girls to think of the rainbow and how colorful the book is. So, they practiced mixing their colors and painting with precision.
After the cartons dried, we stuck pipe cleaners through the front for the caterpillar’s antennae.
A few hours later, at snack time, we picked healthy fruits and vegetables that were the same color as the carton’s compartment:
- Red: Grape tomatoes
- Orange: Bell peppers
- Yellow: An apple (without the skin)
- Green: Snap peas
- Blue: Blueberries
- Purple: Grapes
Even my 1 year old tried the snap peas!
It was also nice to have them excited to eat something healthy and not chocolate wrapped in tinfoil or gummy jellybeans.
I hope this works for your family, too!
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