thoughts on the faqs
1. Do I need to buy a füdoo® Board for each of my children?
This is up to you. As a füdoo® mom, I strive for simplicity. This means my family uses one board and one set of magnets. I didn't sign up to be a short order cook. If my family is hungry we get a meal or one snack going. We have simplified how we eat. Oh the freedom!
Now, Amanda has twin boys, and as she puts it, "I have always thought in twos!" She runs two füdoo® Boards and is comfortable with this. We do make two color boards for this reason. One child gets orange, the other gets blue!
2. How do I use one füdoo® Board with more than one child?
Start thinking about food for your whole family, instead of what each person will eat throughout the day. Simplify. This may mean packing lunches for those at school. This is also a start to helping you use one füdoo® Board.
Next, take a look at your board. There are some spaces with the words "kids 4-8" on them. My 2 year old fills up the spaces without "kids 4-8" on them. My 5 year old son fills them all! I was amazed how naturally my son ended up eating another serving of a food group to fill up the spaces. My 2 year old didn't ask for it. I don't try to talk my 2 year old out of another serving if she wants it. She fills up all the spaces some days along with her older brother. We just mark it on the board!
3. Can the füdoo® Board be used by people over the age of 8?
The füdoo® Board could really be used by anyone. It is just a really cool, simple way to track what you eat and do in a day. I can't tell you how many adults have said, "I could use one of those!" Well, they are right!
Of course, on the “food” side, the numbers of servings are configured for children ages 2-8. After age 8, food intake needs change for gender and how active a child is. So much growth and activity calls for much more energy/food. An active teenage boy has very different needs then a middle age, lightly active woman. But, certainly the board could be used to record any food intake, even if the person has more than the allotted number of spaces on the board.
4. Where are the food group names?
Gotcha! Do you remember learning about the food groups in health class? I do. It didn't get me very far. We're not trashing the food groups by any means, but füdoo families are teaching families. We use teaching words to help us talk about what a food is doing for our bodies, instead of just spouting out a food group name. I have made a pledge to never say, "Eat your vegetables" again. It's just wasted breath and comes across as a negative connection to the healthy food. Instead, my husband and I ramp up our füdoo teacher talk and get our kids ready for some seriously, major germ fightin'! It may sound corny, but we have healthy children who eat their vegetables.
5. Are there drinks on the füdoo® Board other than water?
We stress offering water with each meal. It is simple, and helps digestion. There are two other magnets with liquids on them. There is an orange "something sweet" 100% fruit juice magnet and a purple "grow strong bones" milk/soymilk magnet.
If we make a smoothie, we usually split up the ingredients and mark the board with those magnets; yogurt, berries, orange juice, tofu, etc. Other drinks, such as, soda, sports drinks, milk shakes fall into the "Sometimes Food" category.
6. How are the magnets divided into groups?
For the most part, the magnets fall into the old food group categories. There are a few, such as, tomatoes, olives, pickles and potatoes that have been touted as non-vegetables. We stuck them all into the "germfighters" group in order to cut some kids a break. Go ahead and eat your pickle. For a child who doesn't eat many vegetables, filling the "germfighter" spaces is a huge accomplishment. Positive reinforcement goes a long way for everyone.
7. What is Sometimes Food?
In the words of my five year old, "It's a food you can eat sometimes, but not all the time. Like candy. Sometimes Food doesn't keep your body healthy." It's really simple. Enjoy it once a day, remember moderation and mark it on your board. Then move on!
We include fruity chewy snacks, anything packaged up and sugary, and sports drinks. We don't make it a big deal, we don’t have much of it in the house, and we stopped spending our money on that stuff at the store too!
8. How can I clean any marker residue from the füdoo® Board?
I googled this question one day when I really wanted our füdoo® Board to shine. Take some rubbing alcohol and take off the residue. I used an alcohol swab from our family's first aid kit. Wash the board with soap and water afterwards. You'll be good to go.
9. Does my child need to eat a whole serving of the food in order to earn a magnet?
As a parent or teacher, do you really want to be the one in charge of that job? I didn't think so. füdoo® families don't fight about food. As a parent, all you can do is offer the best food to your child. Offering it up means putting it on their plate like it is perfectly normal and it is. Put it on your plate too. And eat it. Do not offer all kinds of substitutions. You'll make yourself crazy. Mark your family’s meal as to what you have offered. You'll learn how they like to eat it best; raw, cooked, with dip, with peanut butter, etc.
If they are trying the food in a new way, they earn the “New!” magnet and a "germfighters" magnet. Positive reinforcement. A parent and teacher’s secret weapon. Keep it positive. It will make your life easier.
10. Why do some magnets have serving sizes and some don’t?
I try not to stress over serving sizes. Some foods, like asparagus, I am just happy if they eat a stalk! Some food groups like the “get you going" foods may need a small reminder as to what a serving looks like. It’s easy to go overboard on foods like pretzels, tortillas, or rolls. The serving sizes are there for a parent’s reference and an older child’s interest.
11. Would the füdoo® Board work at my son’s child care center?
I spent a lot of time in many child care centers in the past ten years. I worked in some, trained teachers in some and spent hours observing classrooms for research studies. Early childhood educators will have no problem pulling a füdoo® Board into their classroom. Teachers are always looking for ways to communicate how the day is spent to a child’s parents. What was on the menu and what activities the child took part in are key notes that parents want to see. If the child’s family has a füdoo® Board at home, as a teacher you have a perfect connect with the parents.
If you are a child care center interested in using the füdoo® Board system in your school, we can supply you with a reproducible füdoo® Board handout that goes home with children everyday. I also offer my services at parent meetings as a guest speaker. I can’t wait to see the füdoo® Boards in preschools, child care centers and elementary schools! Please contact me for more information. sarah@fudooboards.com
12. Could the füdoo® Board be used by families with children with food allergies?
One of our first customers was a family with a young child who was unable to eat gluten products. They were interested in the füdoo® Board to help them track the child’s special diet. They also bought one for their child’s caregiver to use during the day. What a relief it is for them to be able to have a tool to easily explain what their child can and can't eat!
13. Do you find that at 2 years old, children "get" the activities and writing on the board? My girls really aren't into that stuff yet...
Any written word or symbol you can get on that board is a mini lesson in verbal and written language. You are right - a two year old isn't going to be writing or reading it, but they will get it if you sit down with them and start asking questions.
Lily has always scribbled all over it. This is early writing. I use the board to offer her a choice of what she wants to do - and we'll go do it. If you can circle the choice after doing the activity - more power to you! That is reinforcement of the power of words.
I think the key is starting to use it yourself in front of them. Sit down at lunch and write down all the names of the people at the table. Or have older siblings do it. They can be great teachers too. I like to record what we did in the morning time at lunch. Lily has gotten really good at remembering the activities of the day. Good memory recall stuff. We write grocery lists on the board - or special requests.
Now, Lily is almost three and I write sentences in the middle of the board in her own words. The other day we wrote, "I kick soccerball". We pointed to each word as we read it. Then we read it to Dad when he got home from work. It's so simple but that is teaching!
My advice is always to model the behavior you want from them first. Use the board and they will use it. Kids will follow your lead!
14. How can we organize our magnets if we don't have a magnetic fridge?
You have a few options if you don't have a refrigerator that holds magnets. The most important thing is that you do have the food magnets available for choice laid out somehow and not in a pile to sift through. It is too much work to shuffle through all the magnets at every meal.
I like to use the fridge to hang our magnets. It is easy for me to glance at when I am making a meal. But if you can't get them to stick you do have other choices. I reccommend using a cookie tray. They are cheap and flat and can hold all the food choices for a child to work with at the kitchen table.
Another fun idea is to get your hands on some magnet paint. With this paint you can turn any regular wall into a magnet holding surface. It works great for our magnets and can be painted any color you want.
Get your magnets in clear sight and you and your family will use them.
My girls really aren't into that stuff yet...
