blueberries
My little girl Hannah loves blueberries. My son on the other hand, not so much. With July being National Blueberry Month, I thought it would be fun to come up with an assortment of blueberry activities. After all, what’s not to love about this indigenous flowering plant? Here are 12 kid-friendly ideas for all things blueberry.
1. Blueberry Pickin’ Patch Kids love anything hands-on. Set a date, load the kids in the car and show them first-hand where to get this delicious fruit. In the Rochester area check out Brown’s Berry Patch, Green Acre Farms and G and S Orchards.
2. Blueberry Pancakes It’s Sunday morning and your family is waking up to the smell of delicious blueberry pancakes sizzling on the griddle. If they want to help, drop the batter on the griddle and let your kiddos plop blueberries in the batter (with supervision, of course). This healthy, yummy breakfast will be sure to satisfy everyone’s appetites.
3. Teething Secret Do you have a little one? A great tip for teething tots is to freeze a container of blueberries and let her gnaw on them one at a time for instant relief.
4. Flavored Water Add a little oomph to your water by throwing in a couple of blueberries for extra flavor.
5. Smoothies Add fresh blueberries to your smoothie for added antioxidants. Or better yet, toss your blueberries in the freezer and blend them up with your smoothie to get that extra icy texture.
6. Rainbow Platter Assemble a cute fruit tray and arrange different pieces of fruit by their colors to make a rainbow. Blueberries can be the ‘blue’ ray in the rainbow and the kids will love that you’ve recreated something so cool!
7. Connect the Blueberries Get a pint of blueberries and arrange them one-by-one on a piece of construction paper to create a shape (example: circle). Have your son eat the blueberries as he picks them up and drawn a line where the blueberry was. When all of the blueberries are gone, your child has had a healthy snack and he’s learned how to create art out of something edible.
8. Growth Plant a blueberry bush with your children. This will be a great way to teach them how to get their hands dirty while seeing the fruits of their labor for years to come.
9. Ice Cubes Fill up your ice cube tray and let your child put one or two blueberries in each cubicle. Put the trays in the freezer and voila! Throw the cubes in your next glass of water and now you have a pretty and yummy drink.
10. Jam Who doesn’t love jam? Find an old family recipe or scope one out on the Internet. Do most of the leg work but let your kids get involved in the kitchen by having them measure out the blueberries before putting them into the pot for boiling down with sugar and water.
11. Road Race Let your son line up blueberries on the floor or table to make ‘roads’ where his matchbox cars can drive along. He’ll love the idea of building his own racetrack and you’ll love the extra time to get things done around the house!
12. Fun Facts Let school-aged children get on the computer and see how many facts they can find about blueberries. This is a great way to encourage them to utilize the computer to learn as much a they can about a specific topic.Be sure to try some of these ideas for National Blueberry Month. Your kids will have a blast learning about all things blueberries and you’ll feel good knowing that they’re eating a healthy and nutritious fruit. ?Meagan Ruffing loves finding new ways to teach her kids about healthy foods. She tries to incorporate hands-on learning whenever possible and thinks it keeps her kids out of trouble and into fun.
Meagan Ruffing loves finding new ways to teach her kids about healthy foods. She tries to incorporate hands-on learning whenever possible and thinks it keeps her kids out of trouble and into fun.
// Where to Go //
Area MarketsBrowns Berry Patch14264 Roosevelt Highway (Route 18)Waterport, 14571 www.brownsberrypatch.com
G and S Orchards825 Atlantic Ave. (Route 286) Walworth, 14568www.gandsorchards.com
Green Acre Farms3460 Latta RoadRochester, 14612 www.greenacreupick.com
Whittier Fruit Farm219 Whittier RoadRochester, 14624www.whittierfruitfarm.com
Area MarketsBrighton Farmers’ Market Sundays, 9 am-1 pmThrough October 30 Brighton High School Parking Lot, 1150 Winton RoadRochester, 14618www.brightonfarmersmarket.org
Monroe Village Farmers’ Market Wednesday Evenings, 4-7 pmThrough October 16Blessed Sacrament Church Parking Lot, 730 Monroe Ave.Rochester, 14607www.monroevillagefarmersmarket.org
Rochester Public MarketTuesdays & Thursdays, 6 am-1 pmSaturdays, 5 am-3 pmYear-round280 N. Union Street,Rochester, 14609www.cityofrochester.gov/publicmarket
South Wedge Farmers’ Market Thursdays, 4-7 pmThrough October 20 100 Alexander Street at Clinton Street, behind Boulder Coffee, Rochester, 14620www.swfm.org