Every month The Veggienauts Club subscription box focuses on a single seasonal star ingredient. This month it's carrot (the Easter bunny's favourite veg!! A lot of thought goes into making our recipes and activities as delicious and engaging as possible for little learners, so let's deep dive into a box to explain how we decide what goes inside.
YOUR VEGGIENAUT MISSION
Each box encourages children to shop for, choose, wash, prepare and eventually taste the star ingredient. Think of the mission as a little journey through the world of carrots, from learning how to choose the tastiest (and what varieties might be available) through to storing it, washing it, preparing and then tasting it in various different forms. Modern day supermarket shopping and pre-prepared convenience foods mean there can be a real disconnect with what we're eating - our boxes help to connect children back with what they put in their mouths and where it comes from.
FACT FILE
Did you know that the world's biggest carrot was as long as a giraffe is tall? Would you cut the tops of carrots when storing them or leave them on? And how many carrots do we Brits eat every year? All this information and more is included on your child's fun illustrated fact file.
RECIPES
Each box contains three recipes, all using the seasonal star ingredient. All recipes are triple tested for both taste and ease of execution with small children, so you can guarantee they'll work every time. The main 'hero' recipe is laid out with step-by-step illustrations that even pre-reading children can follow along.
This month we're making savoury carrot flapjacks, a delicious, wholesome alternative to packaged snacks. There are carrot cake energy balls which are great for developing fine motor skills and also contain a secret good-for-you ingredient in addition to the carrot! Finally there is a roasted carrot hummus which introduces an interesting way to cook carrot which children might not have tried before.
ACTIVITIES
Every month we include at least three activities in each box, whether it's a vegetable-based experiment or simple craft. Because it's the Easter holidays, our carrot box is absolutely jam packed with things to keep your little one busy. We've included carrot seeds so you can grow your own indoor carrots, a sprouting activity and a carrot cone craft to store any Easter treats inside. There are also two egg-citing experiments to educate and amaze little minds and the chance to make your own edible carrot patch and engage in some sensory play.
FOCUS SKILL
We truly believe the kitchen is the best place to learn (to read more about this, click here) and every month your box includes a Focus Skill to learn, whether it's blending, grating, cracking eggs etc. This month we're teaching children to peel vegetables.
That's right. Even a child as young as 3 can have a very careful go with a safety peeler. If you tend to take control in the kitchen, our boxes encourage you to allow your children some autonomy - you'll be amazed at the results! Plus there are some yummy healthy carrot crisps to enjoy at the end of it.
LOG BOOK, STICKERS & COLOURING
Speaking of autonomy, whilst all box activities require some adult supervision, we try to give children real ownership of their Veggienaut adventure. Boxes include a log book which is all theirs, stickers to collect and also a colouring and activity sheet that can be filled in solo.
Finally our boxes come with a complete shopping list which is also emailed out to grown ups when they dispatch in case you want to have everything in the house and ready to go when they arrive. We don't include pre-measured ingredients in our boxes as we believe shopping for and weighing out/preparing ingredients are both important life skills for little learners.
Our bumper April Easter boxes are on sale now. Order before 12th April to receive yours in time for Easter. You can use code EASTER10 to get an exlcusive 10% discount at checkout.
