Instructional Video Project

Link out to:  "Kids Cooking Challenge"

Continuing my focus on healthy lifestyle practices, I created an instructional video for children, teaching them healthy nutrition choices. My husband and I have fed our children healthy foods since they were babies; we steamed and pureed vegetables instead of buying jarred baby food, and we were quite good at “hiding” thinly-cut vegetables in sauces, meatballs, or muffins. There were good resources available for making homemade baby food, and I continued to cook with my children to get them to be active participants in healthy nutrition choices.

My target audience was parents and their school-aged children. As the CDC reported, 17% of school-age children were obese at the time of this project, so this population needed help and guidance in the area of nutrition. My learning objective was to educate parents and children about ways to incorporate healthy nutrition practices while making it fun. I highlighted healthy pasta choices and how to hide vegetables in sauces or meatballs. This instruction was in the middle of a fun kids' cooking challenge and I used my own children as the stars of the show.

I sketched a storyboard outlining my main ideas with pencil and paper. This was a simple practice that allowed me to visualize the flow of the video without committing much time to a software program since it was only in the draft stages. Reynolds (2009) recommended this practice of using pencil and paper before launching into a software program (p. 45). I found it an easy way to draft, create, and edit at the early planning stages of the project. I used an iPhone 6 to shoot the video and originally purchased iMovie for PC to edit and add narration, titles, and transitions but found it too buggy, so I used Windows Live Movie Maker instead.

Script

The original draft of the script is below; however, the video took on an organic nature since I used my own children and asked their opinions along the way. Thus, the script was not followed but served more as a starting point for the project.

1. Family sitting down at dining table eating dinner - the kids are whining about having to eat their vegetables and the parents are tired and frustrated. Then the family starts playing “Cupcake Wars” to have fun. The mom starts thinking about doing an actual cooking challenge that emphasizes healthy eating - turns to her husband, “What do you think about having the kids do an actual challenge, but it has to include healthy food?”

Him - “like bacon?”

Her - “no, like with actual vegetables!”

Kids - “NEVER!”

2. Fade:  Intro to Cooking Show

Announcer:  “Bakers, your challenge is to make healthy food WITH VEGETABLES. And it has to taste good!”

Audience: “Boo, hiss”

Kid 1: “I hate healthy food - it’s all vegetables and boring!”

Kid 2: “Why can’t we just do REAL Cupcake Wars!?”

Kid 1: “Wait, what about Dad’s yummy carrot and zucchini muffins? They taste good AND have vegetables in them!”

Kid 2 agrees.

3. The kids race around the kitchen gathering ingredients. They read the recipe and teach the audience how to make healthy muffins that have minimal sweetener, whole wheat flour, zucchini and carrots.

While the muffins are baking…..

4. The mom appears and does a brief demo on how to “sneak” veggies into spaghetti sauce.

5. The dad appears and does a demo on how to make healthy lunches.

6. Back to the kids’ cooking show and the muffins are ready. They taste great and the judges declare a winner!

Design Decisions

My ultimate goal in making this video was to have fun with my children and to show other parents that they, too, can get their kids involved with cooking and making healthy choices in a fun way. My design decisions centered mainly around this idea of fun. I let my children star in, script, video, and edit the show. I taught my 9-year-old that limiting the slide transitions was a good thing and I edited out a lot my 5-year-old’s silliness for a cleaner, more understandable presentation.

Design Decision #1

I chose to make a teaching video using a simple story that has a beginning, middle and end. I hoped that a simple story would communicate the information best, since stories are how “humans have always communicated” (Reynolds, 2009, p.81). Heath and Heath (2008) echoed this when they included story-telling as one of their main tenants of stickiness success (p. 223). This was why I chose to begin and end with a baking challenge..

Design Decision #2

I illustrated a concrete skill: cooking. Heath and Heath (2008) discussed making a concept concrete and how the more sensory a concept is, the “stickier” it is (p. 271). Reynolds (2009) also echoed this when he said to “use natural speech to give real examples with real things, not abstractions” (p. 79) I taught my children (and will continue to do so) how to cook, which was a concrete activity that aided their ability to choose nutritious foods. It also aided their math skills; for example, my eldest daughter added fractions to get the correct amount of cinnamon - this was totally unscripted, and I was very proud.

Design Decision #3

I crafted the idea and story for the instructional video using paper and pencil and illustrating a storyboard before I did anything else. A simple script followed the storyboard but never dictated the final project. As Reynolds (2009) mentioned, it was important to take ideas from sketches on paper and then turn them into a digital work (p. 77). Lankow, Ritchie and Crooks (2012) noted, “images [were] better for spatial structures, location and detail” (p. 45). This helped me quickly draft an idea for a video as opposed to starting with a script or a written report for the idea which would have taken longer and been less effective (p. 45). Working with my children meant that I could sketch out my ideas and communicate them easily before shooting video.

Design Decision #4

I selected a project that represented and addressed an underrepresented part of the population. I chose children as my audience since they were a minority and often misunderstood. Making people care was the ultimate goal of this project, as was the Save the Children ad discussed by Heath and Heath (2009, p. 169). As Reynolds (2008) indicated, it was all about making a connection with the audience in order to have a conversation (p. 232). I made this connection by choosing to focus on children and humor.

Design Decision #5

I utilized a challenge plot for my teaching video in order to make it like current cooking shows on television and to appeal to the competitive nature in all of us, particularly my children. Heath and Heath (2008) talked about utilizing the challenge plot as an inspiring way to get our audience to act (p. 227). Reynolds (2009) suggested using playfulness in our work to engage our audience (p. 18). This was another reason I chose to mimic a fun cooking competition. I also mixed in humor throughout the video to keep it entertaining and engaging.

Design Decision #6

I added an element of unexpectedness to my video in the form of humor and child actors. Heath and Heath (2008) mentioned that audiences adapt quickly to consistent patterns and that breaking the expected imagery is needed to engage the audience (p. 64). Reynolds (2008) echoed the importance of unexpectedness and said there is “no reason to do the presentation in the first place if there are no surprises” (p. 236). My maniacal laughing was meant to break up the expected patterns and engage the audience.

Design Decision #7

I made the video fun and informative--important elements that created an effective presentation that connected the viewer to the content. As Reynolds (2008) noted, “if they are laughing, they are listening” (p. 237). Heath and Heath (2009) suggested connecting the audience to emotions as an effective way to get them engaged and give them a call to action (p. 171). I created an informal, fun video that engaged parents and excited them to involve their kids in the kitchen.

Lessons Learned

Shooting videos over a few weeks and merging/editing them together into a unified project is not easy. It took more time than I thought it would to shoot the videos, due to work and family obligations and schedules. It also took more time and effort than I thought it would to edit them. I purchased a movie editor program for the Pecha Kucha project and ended up asking for my money back during this video project since it had so many technical glitches.

Thankfully, I rediscovered the free Windows Live Movie Maker on my laptop and used that without any issues. I enjoyed adding music and explanatory texts to the video and hope that it brought clarity and a sense of fun for the audience.

Bibliography

Crooks, R., Lankow, J., & Ritchie, J. (2012). Infographics: The power of visual storytelling. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Heath, C., & Heath, D. (2008). Made to stick: Why some ideas die and others survive. New York, NY: Random House.

Reynolds, G. (2009). Presentation zen design: Simple design principles and techniques to enhance your presentations. Berkeley, CA: New Riders.