During a Kids in the Kitchen event recently more than 50 kids of all ages converged on the Riverton Boys & Girls Club to learn how to make healthy snacks and other dishes.

The event was sponsored by the Junior League of Portland. In addition to learning about healthy foods, Alexis Garrison, spokeswoman for the Junior League, said the kids were sent home with a recipe book full of easy to make, healthy foods.

This is the eighth year the Junior League has sponsored the Kids in the Kitchen event and Garrison said the March 23 gathering was “absolutely successful. The children learned a lot about different healthy snacks they can make on their own and within certain dietary and budget restrictions.”

“The kids come from a wide range of backgrounds and there are certain ingredients they can and cannot cook with or eat. We had a handful of different stations from breakfast, lunch, snack time and dinner,” she added.

For breakfast, according to Garrison, the kids learned to make overnight oats, which included oatmeal and yogurt and toppings like strawberries, blueberries and brown sugar. For lunch the kids were shown how make chicken Caesar wraps and a sweet potato salad. For dinner there was American chop suey made with turkey.

The overall goal of the event, Garrison said, was to “empower youth to make healthy lifestyle choices and reverse the growth of childhood obesity and its associated health issues.”

The theme for this year’s event was “Grocery Games,” which took its inspiration from the recent Winter Olympics to “combine engaging activities with food education,” Garrison said.

In addition to making food, the kids at the Boys & Girls Club also participated in a can-stacking challenge, a relay station and dancing.

Garrison said kids and their families were also introduced to the Kids In The Kitchen website, www.kidsinthekitchen.org, which includes bilingual recipes, and tips on nutrition, fitness and healthy lifestyles, along with interactive activities, like an online nutrition game.