Healthy Kids of  Sunrise

Celebrating Without Food

 

Did you know that one in every thirteen students in America suffers from a food allergy of some sort? According to FARE, Food Allergy and Research Education, there are eight foods that account for ninety percent of all food allergies. That list includes: milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, soy, wheat, fish, and shellfish. With this being said, there are many more food allergies to add to this already overwhelming list.

 

As a school, we have really encouraged the initiative to celebrate without food. Although your child may love a birthday cupcake, and for good reason, the truth is that children in your child’s class may suffer by having to miss eating a birthday treat for a food allergy purpose. On top of this idea, our school also encourages healthy snacks, but with the food allergies within schools rising, there is no sure way to guarantee that a snack is appropriate for the whole class.

 

At the “Chalk Walk” in September, one of the stations encouraged families to think of ways they could ditch the food for birthdays. Here is a list of some of the favorites:

 

1. Share a book with the clas

2. Share some sort of party favor with the class (Dollar Tree, Dollar Section at Target)

3. Ask your child’s teacher if the class could have a dance party for ten minutes

4. Donate something to the classroom

5. Decorate a shoebox and send it in. Ask the teacher to have each student in the class write something kind to the birthday student and put it in the box.

6. Bring in a classroom craft.

7. Fill a bag with some of your child’s favorite things. Have he/she bring in the bag and present to the class a few of their favorites.

     

We are excited to see what different ideas you come up with! Thank you for joining us in celebrating without food!