Nowadays, it seems like American children are spending more time online than they are sleeping or breathing or going outside. KidsCom, the latest green website geared towards children, has the tools to help kids get excited about being active, changing their eating habits and making healthy lifestyle choices.
Virtual worlds are all the rage these days, and creative minds at KidsCom, a website full of online games for kids, are taking advantage of it to teach children about healthy living.
The latest offering – the Idea Seekers Garden game – simulates having a backyard garden, so kids can grow virtual plants in real time, harvest them, and “cook” them using recipes from the game. They can then serve the meal, inviting their friends over for a party to dance and play games after their virtual garden is harvested.
The hope is that if kids can get excited about growing whole foods and cooking meals at home, then they’ll keep those healthy habits into adulthood. We’ve seen from Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution that savvy eating habits both at home and at school are hard to come by these days. But the lessons learned online need to be translated into the real world for them to do any good, so getting the game into classrooms is an important step.
To read more about the importance of developing healthy eating habits in kids, check out Planet Green.
Editor’s note: Article by Jaymi Heimbuch. Originally published by our friends at Planet Green. Planet Green is an offshoot of Discovery that covers every aspect of green living, from tofu to tattoos. Be sure to visit them and say hi, and follow Planet Green on Twitter, too!
Image: spacecadet