FSIS' food safety education resources has fun learning activities for families
You're working from home and facing constant interruption by your child who needs help with a chore, schoolwork or preparing a snack. Sound familiar? Many of us are wearing several hats: the working-at-home professional, the teacher and the child entertainer.
Why not combine two of those roles – teacher and entertainer – with one activity to give yourself a bit of a break?
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has many food safety education resources for families, including the Food Safe Families Activity Book. Recently, this activity book was updated with science-based lesson plans that will help your youngster learn about and practice food safety while being stuck at home. This educational resource is for children from 6 to 10 years old and fits into science, technology, engineering and mathematics – STEM – curricula.
Friendly characters teach elementary school-age children about the four simple steps of food safety: Clean, Separate, Cook and Chill, plus the types of germs that can cause food poisoning. They'll learn about food safety myths; for example, the myth that leftovers are safe to eat until they smell bad. In this book, food safety is taught through games, puzzles, and other activities based on the science of food safety. It also includes games for the whole family to test your household's food smarts.
To learn more about key food safety practices, visit Foodsafety.gov and follow @USDAFoodSafety on Twitter, and like Facebook.com/FoodSafety.gov.
Have questions? You can chat live with food safety experts at https://ask.usda.gov/s/, Monday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern Time. You can search for food safety answers on the website, which contains a database of the most frequently asked questions and answers in food safety. You can also call the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at 1-888-MP-HOTLINE (1-888-674-6854).
Got questions? You can chat live with food safety experts at https://ask.usda.gov/s/, Monday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern Time. You can search for food safety answers on the website, which contains a database of the most frequently asked questions and answers in food safety. You can also call the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at 1-888-MP-HOTLINE (1-888-674-6854).