As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Clark County Cooperative Extension office closed its doors to the public in March 2020. Due to this, there was no opportunities to offer in-person educational programming through the spring or early summer. The Cooperative Extension team, including the 4-H agent, the FCS agent, and the NEP assistant, decided to offer grab and go programs each week to make sure the education was still being offered to the community in a way they could access.

NEP Assistant developed a Kids in the Kitchen series that was meant to target elementary age children, but was accessible to all families. These bags were offered for four weeks and included Leap Program materials as well as incentives to teach kitchen skills, how to read a recipe, learning to chop vegetables, food safety, and Wally Cat hand washing posters. The information was posted on the Clark County Cooperative Extension Facebook page where how-to videos were posted along with the contents of each bag. 

As a result, from the Leap Program Kids in the Kitchen Grab and Go Bags, 2967 indirect contacts were made and 180 bags were distributed. Several families reported enjoying the bags and provided pictures of their children showing off the skills they learned from the bags. One mom reported “My kids are loving their color changing cups” and she encourages her children to drink more milk as a result of the education and reinforcement items from the grab and go bag.