Hands-on, sensory-based nutrition education and activities change the way children and youth — and their parents — think about food and health.

Go!Healthy is a Children’s Aid health promotion initiative that gets children of all ages excited about eating healthy foods and provides families with the resources to live healthy, active lifestyles. Go!Healthy cooking classes, gardening, and nutrition education programming are implemented across most of our sites and centers in New York City.

Go!Kids

Integrated into all Children’s Aid early childhood classrooms, the Go!Kids curriculum helps toddlers develop a foundation for a lifetime of healthy behaviors. Through age-appropriate books, arts and crafts, breathing exercises, movement, songs, yoga poses, and play-center environments, children learn to differentiate between healthy “Go!Foods” and not-so-healthy “slow foods.” Children also expand their palates, practice moderation in eating processed foods, and develop an appreciation for active lifestyles early on.

Go!Chefs

Go!Chefs provides cooking-based nutrition education for children and youth (ages 6-18) through weekly cooking classes during the school-year in Children’s Aid after-school and summer enrichment programming. The curriculum teaches kids the difference between whole and processed foods, components of food advertising, and kitchen and knife safety. Classes simulate a lab environment, where students review nutritional recipes*, and demonstrate a fundamental understanding of cooking processes and kitchen operations. The program culminates with the annual Iron Go!Chefs competition, which brings together youth from across Children’s Aid sites to challenge their peers in making the tastiest and healthiest dishes in front of a panel of professional judges.

*Each Go!Chefs recipe features fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and is culturally relevant and inexpensive, making it accessible for students to replicate at home with their families.