Miniature polymer clay jewelry never gets old. Neither does my admiration for the artisans who have mastered this niche!  Chrissie of SweetheartCraftsCo is a stellar whose creations really do make my mouth water.  Perhaps you, too?

She can render in clay, the colours and textures of food such as bakery items like buns and toast. The fried egg on avocado toast stud earrings is both adorable and admirable for the tiny size. She's even got muffins in the pan. Worth a wander if you are wondering what to gift that foodie friend of yours!










What Some Schoolchildren Eat for Lunch

The Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carney, recently announced that the National School Food Program funding will become permanent. This ensures that all schoolchildren will get the healthy food they need to grow,  learn and succeed. Children are a nation's future so this is a no brainer.

Here is a look at a few countries which provide school lunches, each with unique cultural approaches and local cuisine. 

Every school child in Korea gets a free lunch, with the menu changed each day. This video shows how the cafeteria workers prepare lunch for high school students. The Koreans use trays with several compartments. 


The French have a very different attitude to food - they believe food should be appreciated and savored.This video shows what very young kids in a public school in Paris eat for lunch - a 5 course gourmet meal! The safety protocols for each of the public school district food preparation centers is very stringent because the young are more susceptible to food borne illnesses. The lunches are not entirely free - families pay for what they can afford and the city pays the rest. The video also shows how the chef in a high school outside Paris manages on half the budget of a city school. Still manages to serve escargot (snails) - a French delicacy - on the menu!


School lunches in Japan are free. The cafeteria staff do not serve primary school children as shown in this video. They just deliver the food to the tables. The young children are taught to serve others with the older ones helping the younger kids. The children also put away the dirty dishes and clean the tables (not shown). This really reinforces positive social interactions. 


Kindergarten in China is for kids aged 2-5 (in 3 age groups) is really pre-school before the children go to proper schools.  Kindergarten is not compulsory nor are they common. However, there are many viral videos on TikTok (some crossed over onto Youtube) showing how a few pioneering kindergartens are offering life skills programs for the oldest (age 4-5). This includes cooking their own lunches (with adult supervision). I suspect these kindergartens have long waiting lists and no doubt, more and more such places will crop up in other places with time. 

They go beyond cooking, laundry, cleaning up but offer all sorts of crafts. The crafts include embroidery, quilting, crochet, sewing etc. In this video below, a tradesman supervised the kids in mixing cement and learning how to do brick laying! Invaluable lessons in teamwork!


The video showing the little girl deftly using a small rolling pin for the dough for home made noodles, cutting them up and tossing them with flour just blew my mind. The little boy equipped with face shield in addition to  aprons and gloves, stir frying with skill and gusto is endearing. 

What amazed me is how some of the kids can manage a sewing machine and other tools. The following videos are just a selection - you can search for more on Youtube. All this shows what children can really do if given the right guidance and opportunities. Independence, self reliance in addition to learned skills is noteworthy. 

In one video (not shown), the teacher said that the children's attention spans dramatically increased with the program. Nurturing creativity is also important because creativity also improves the mind and improves problem solving skills. As we all know already, many crafts like sewing, yarn work, are calming activities, no matter the age. 




Before You Go :

jewelry making supplies

Disclosure 

This blog may contain affiliate links. I do receive a small fee for any products purchased through affiliate links. This goes towards the support of this blog and to provide resource information to readers. The opinions expressed are solely my own. They would be the same whether or not I receive any compensation. 
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Original Post by THE BEADING GEM