By Michelle Matthews
Shelter in place orders may have slacked some in recent days, but it is still encouraged to maintain social distance. For many of us, this means we are still spending a lot of time at home. This is a great time for kids of all ages to learn life skills such as clothing care, cooking, and meal planning.
For starters, teach your children that the clean-clothes fairy is a myth. Teach them how to sort dirty clothes, how to use the washing machine and dryer, and how to fold and put away clothes. And, after they learn the skills, have them practice those skills regularly.
Cooking is another important skill everyone needs. Have your kids take turns helping prepare meals. Be sure to teach the importance of reading and following recipes, properly measuring, and basic food safety practices.
Let’s not forget about meal planning. Teach your kids how to plan meals and prepare a grocery list. If you feel comfortable taking them with you to the grocery store, allow them to go and select the items on the list. Teach them how to comparison shop. Help them to discover their options such as name brand products verses generics or store brands.
So, let’s talk about how this relates to 4-H. In 4-H, youth are encouraged to pick a project area to focus on. Clothing care would be an activity that relates to the Clothing & Textiles project. Cooking relates to the project area called Food Science or perhaps even Foods, Nutrition, & Health. Meal planning would also be a good fit for Food Science, Foods, Nutrition, & Health or even the Consumer Education project.
To learn more about the 4-H project areas available in Tennessee, visit http://:4h.tennessee.edu. For assistance in selecting a project, reach out to your 4-H agents. I can be reached at jmatthe1@utk.edu, and Anna Duncan can be reached at aduncan@utk.edu.