Beet Tattoos

We are excited to bring you a very special guest blogger this month! Melanie Potock is a speech pathologist who specializes in picky eating. The kids that work with Melanie call her “Coach Mel” because she’s their food coach! After helping thousands of kids learn to eat a variety of healthy foods, Coach Mel decided to write her fourth book on a problem facing so many parents today – How to help kids learn to LOVE veggies. Just like Veggie Buds Club, Melanie embraces her work knowing that all kids can learn to love vegetables! 
Her latest book, Adventures in Veggieland, is based on her professional 3-step plan that takes kids from FUN to YUM! It’s based on Coach Mel's philosophy of the Three E’s: Expose, Explore, Expand. This delightful cookbook walks parents and kids through twenty different vegetables, presented according to season. Each vegetable experience starts with food play – a fun craft or a game that focuses on a new vegetable, like the activity below for exposing kids to beets before exploring simple, tasty recipes that kids make with their parents. The family then expands to fancier recipes, including some veggie-desserts, like super-moist choco-beet cupcakes.  YUM!

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Beet Tattoos

These Beet Tattoos are featured in this month’s issue of Parents Magazine and when we asked Coach Mel if we could share them with you too, she said "Of course, and I’ll be sure to tell you the secret to removing them too! Just take a piece of raw potato under running water and it will magically erase the beet tattoos. That is, if your kid will let you remove them. Chances are, your kid will be too proud of how s/he licked and stamped their own temporary tat!"

Photo Credit Eric Harvey Brown

What you'll need

• Fresh beets
• Kid-safe knife
• Mini cookie cutters in simple shapes, like a heart or diamond (optional)

What to do

1. KIDS: Wash any dirt from the beets under running water.
2. PARENTS: Boil about an inch (2.5 cm) of water in a shallow pan. Place the beets upright in the water with the greens sticking upward. Boil gently on medium-high for 4 to 6 minutes, until the bottoms are fork-tender. Remove from the water and wait until the beets are cool enough for kids to handle.
3. KIDS: Press a cookie cutter into one of the beet halves and then remove it, leaving an imprint of the shape.
4. PARENTS AND OLDER KIDS: Cut away the beet around the shape to leave a raised "stamp" for the tattoo. Or create your own shape by whittling away at the beet!
5. KIDS: Lick the stamp, press onto skim, and let dry. The pattern will be faint on the skin at first, but if you hold still and let it dry (it takes about a minute) you'll have a lovely light-pink tattoo!
6. PARENTS AND KIDS: Be creative! How about putting the stamp to use for a little face painting? It all comes off in the bathtub or with the secret vegetable that magically erases beet stains that "Coach Mel" mentioned above.

Beets come in a variety of colors and, fortunately, can temporarily stain your skin yellow, red, pink, and purple. Yes, it's a good thing! Kids need to explore foods in a fun way before they consider tasting them. Temporary tattoos are sure to be a hit with kids of all ages.