I'm sure that a lot of parents were under pressure: "mum, buy me a soft drink". Shop shelves groan with drinks that tempt us with colourful and enticing labels. Some of them also have stickers to attract children's attention. You just need one peek at a list of ingredients as long as the periodic table and you don't want to buy them. Unfortunately, normal mineral water isn't attractive both in terms of taste and packaging. Adults are more sensible so more often choose water, but children are more difficult to convince.

My children mostly drink water, juice and green and fruit tea, but sometimes I am faced with the above difficult choice.

For children aged 5-6 educators and teachers have more authority than parents, so I decided to look for outside support. I was rescued from my trouble by a nearby shop with healthy and ecological food "EKOlogika" Opaczewska Street 43. In this ordinary but amazing place they organize training workshops for children and adults about products and eating habits, and they also have evenings with books and meetings with businessmen from the Ochota district as well as other events.

This time we hit the spot. The training workshop involved the choosing of nutritious and healthy drinks. A nice dietician called Maria runs it. She dealt very well with a small but active group of five- and six-year-old children. During the meeting the children found out which drinks are good and which ones they should avoid. The training workshops are aimed at older children because a part of the meeting involved a jolly analysis of drink labels and identifying the kinds of ingredients which shouldn't be in healthy drinks. Fortunately, the monthly programme indicates the suitable age of the merrymakers, so there is no danger that we will go to an event that is too sophisticated or easy.

The dietician explained what is hidden behind difficult names like high-fructose corn syrup, carbon dioxide, caffeine, citric acid and flavourings. The parents were surprised to learn that our children know more than we think. The second part of the meeting was fragrant and yummy. The children got to know the difference between a squeezer and a juicer, and under Maria's care they made fresh juices. They were yummy, full of vitamins and they disappeared to the last drop. There is free admission to all meetings in EKOlogika. Now we know that it is an excellent way to spend free time. It is a pity that the training workshop were attended by families who already know which drinks should be avoided, and not by those who wash crisps down with Coca-Cola.

Every day you may buy there fragrant coffee, healthy fresh cakes, crunchy bread, organic vegetables, a huge choice of kasha, seeds, nuts and other interesting products. We can also come here with our children. The sweets and products for children are healthy and natural. We may buy fruit crisps, muesli bars and pasta in funny shapes. We can find there gluten-free products and food for diabetics, and there is quite a big choice of baby-proof natural cosmetics.

For sure we will go back there.
I recommend it!