Who else is ready to get crafty and have some Toddler Camp fun this Spring! Registration is now live for all Spring groups as well as pre-registration at discounted rates for Summer! Make sure to locate the page for your city and sign up today. We have amazing adventures, arts & crafts, outdoor activities, new indoor venues, stories, music, fitness, science, culture, cooking and more coming your way!!
We spend a good deal of time in the car living in SoCal. Whether we are commuting to work, running errands, picking up the kids, or heading out on a vacation, time spent in the car can add up to multiple hours each day. Road trips and long car rides tend to be notorious for eating out of boredom, and more times than not we may find ourselves grabbing a bag of candy or a sugary beverage as a quick fix. Having snacks that will satisfy you as well as positively nourish you, come in handy in times like these.
It is important for snacks to serve their purpose: to hold you over until you are having your next meal. One nutrient that can do just this is protein. Ultimately, pairing protein with a carbohydrate will ward hunger off and keep us satisfied until our next balanced meal. The combination of nutrients allows for a longer digestion and absorption period versus just simply having a carbohydrate type of snack alone. Crackers, pretzels, and chips are often go-to snacks but pairing these with a protein source is a sure fire way to effectively nourish the body. By adding a small amount of natural peanut butter to an apple, a piece of cheese with crackers, or guacamole to whole-grain tortilla chips, the snack becomes much more balanced and filling. Alternatively, eating a carbohydrate source without protein will give you energy quicker, but, may cause a drastic drop in energy much sooner than with a combined, balanced snack.
Portion size also becomes an important factor while on the road. It’s easy to open a container of nuts and mindlessly snack leading us to consume more than what is truly need. If you know you are going to be traveling, think ahead and pack snacks so they are ready when hunger sets in. For example, plan ahead by portioning single servings of snacks in little sandwich bags, which were great for adults, but kids too!
Let’s not forget drinks! Energy drinks, sugary beverages and dolled-up coffee drinks are a go-to at many gas stations. Although they provide a jolt of energy when exhaustion hits, they do not truly nourish the body. They are usually laden with excess sugar and contain zero nutrients. They typically cause restlessness later in the evening or withdrawal symptoms if it is becoming a habit. Flavoring water with sliced citrus fruit, berries, or cucumbers is an easy way to ‘taste’ up your drink and still hydrate and nourish the body and mind.
Road trips and car rides can be fun, so make your snacks fun, healthy, and delicious! Here are a few ideas to get you started:
-Apples and natural peanut butter
-Nuts and fruit
-Cheese and crackers
-Trail mix
-Plain greek yogurt with berries
-Veggies and hummus
-Almond butter and banana
-Cottage cheese and pineapple
-Baby Caprese Salad (See recipe)
For more information, cooking tips, recipes, workouts and more please visit befit-beyou.com or e-mail Ashley at ashley@befit-beyou.com .
Ashley Lytwyn, MS, RDN, LDN, is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist offering one-on-one nutritional counseling and couching for adult weight management and family nutrition. She believes in ‘ditching the diet’ and learning to listen to individual body cues to help achieve a healthy weight. She provides solutions for permanent weight loss and long-lasting sustainable results. Ashley also focuses on family meal planning, disordered eating, and building unique systems that work for allergies, intolerances, and picky eaters!
We are so excited to welcome our families back to Toddler Camp as well as introduce new faces to our program. We have new afternoons sessions for our preschoolers plus tons of morning fun for the tots!
Find your local group, view the schedule and sign up TODAY!
We are lucky to have an amazing staff ready to entertain you this fall!
Meet Jenell – Assistant Toddler Camp Director andGroup Leader
Jenell Manzi has worked with children of all ages at summer recreational camps, Sunday schools, indoor play spaces and theatres. She graduated summa cum laude with a BA in Theatre and a minor in vocal performance from East Stroudsburg University in PA, where she studied children’s theatre and performed in several plays for young audiences. After college, she was a stage manager and performer in various children’s theatre productions at Shawnee Playhouse in the Poconos, Princeton Summer Theatre and Surflight To-Go, an educational touring theatre. She is a recipient of the Gold Award, the highest achievement in Girl Scouting. Jenell has always enjoyed the arts and loves sharing her talents with children.
Meet Megan – Education Director & Group Leader
As a “Professional At Make Believe,” I’ve been creating interactive, play-based, curriculum for over 10 years. After studying Theatre Education in Boston, I graduated from Emerson College with a degree in all things artsy. I’ve served as Education Director for The Beverly Hills Country Club, Theatre Director for the YMCA, and most recently as Arts Coordinator for LAUSD.
Meet Lou – Music Specialist
Lou Stratten, has been taking families on spirited musical adventures that are delightfully filled with active participation and loads of fun! She has been selected in several books over the years as a performer who has amazing rapport with young children. With her imaginative and magical music curriculum, be prepared to join in! She’s been spotted at the Getty Museum, as a Master Storyteller, she has been the much anticipated subject of two separate articles in the School Library Journal for her award winning debut album “Lou Stratten” and her book “Hello, I’m Sir Frettirick!” and on her cable TV program, “The Fretti and Lou Show,” now available on her youtube channel SCP_Shaggy Creature Productions, as a SAG Signatory Producer. She is known as an excellent entertainer with children. With her BA in Music and Theater, as well as certificates in Early childhood and Interventions teaching, Lou is devoted to giving and sharing her gift of music, she also has donated her talents to many special causes. She is now spreading her talents by teaching other teachers her gift!
Meet Jen – Reggio/RIE Expert & Group Leader
Born and raised in Los Angeles County, Jen has always enjoyed working with children. While attending Cal State Fullerton, she worked as a Behavioral Therapist for a child with autism. Concurrently, she organized numerous events for children as the Community Service Co-Chair for the Resident Student Association. After graduating with her BFA in Art and working in the design field for two years, she turned her focus to teaching, working as a summer camp art and photography teacher.
It is from these experiences that she decided to focus on early childhood education. While taking classes at Santa Monica College, she taught at a small preschool in the Southbay. Her continued passion to provide children with an environment rich in possibilities led her to Christopher Robin Preschool in West Hollywood in 2008. She worked collaboratively with a team, teaching two to five year olds following Reggio inspired and Socio-Constructivist principles. In 2012, she joined the Sunflower staff, teaching in their afternoon Reggio Inspired program for two to six year olds.
After six years as an early childhood educator, her desire to support children individually grew, and she decided to prepare for a career in occupational therapy. She is currently taking her final classes to receive her Associate’s degree in Early Childhood Education, as well as prerequisites to apply to an occupational therapy program. She also works as a behavior therapist for Inizio Interventions and toddler educator in a Reggio and RIE (Resources for Infant Educarers) based program at Wild Poppy Studio in Santa Monica.
During her free time, she enjoys karaoke, dancing, going to music shows, paddle boarding, road trips, traveling, organizing potluck meetups with friends, designing organized systems and environments
Thanks to Happy Family Brands for joining us on the Blog this week and for introducing us to their new “Love Your Veggies” line at Toddler Camp’s Community Snack Break! Big hit with our hungry toddlers!
Guest Blog From Happy Family Brands
Did You Know?
Carrots are not always orange! They can also be found in purple, white, red or yellow! Carrots originated around 900-1000 A.D. in Afghanistan. Today, they provide 30% of the vitamin A in the US diet which is important for healthy vision and skin, and helps hearts stay healthy.
Sweet potatoes are not the same as yams! True yams are native to Africa and part of the lily family, while sweet potatoes come in two colors and share the same family as morning glories. In South America, traces of Peruvian sweet potato dating as far back as 8000 BC have been found.
Sweet potatoes are rich in complex carbohydrates and dietary fiber and are an excellent source of vitamin A, an important nutrient for vision and immune system health.
Spinach was first cultivated over 2,000 years ago in Persia! It is a nutritional powerhouse, rich in iron which plays a central role in the function of red blood cells. Spinach is also an excellent source of vitamins A and C, as well as being a good source of magnesium which is necessary for healthy artery, blood, bone, heart, muscle, and nerve function.
Happy Tot Love My Veggies organic vegetable and fruit blends make it easy and convenient for your little one to get these essential nutrients. Enjoy peace of mind knowing each pouch contains a full serving of veggies for your toddler (1/4 cup). Read more HERE.
Available exclusively at Target as part of the Made to Matter – Handpicked by Target™ collection, Love My Veggies are packaged in 4.22 oz. pouches with 4 pouches per box, and a retail price of $5.89. Find them HERE