Want to get your kids to eat healthier? Here are 19 ways to encourage them to eat more fruits, veggies, and other healthy foods:
1. Make fresh juice together. This is a great way to get in lots of fresh produce!
2. Let your kids plant and harvest their own veggies in their little garden plot. Kids are more likely to eat foods they have helped to grow themselves.
3. Take your kids to the Farmer’s Market, give them $5 each, and encourage them to pick out one to two different vegetables to use for meals during the coming week.
4. Get a few backyard chickens and let your children gather the farm fresh eggs.
5. Take your kids to the health food store and the grocery store and have them read the labels on food at both places and discuss the differences.
6. Go to a U-Pick farm as a family and pick some fresh produce. Check LocalHarvest.org to find farms in your area that sell to the public.
7. When you’re planning the menu, let your kids pick out the fruits or veggies to serve with lunch and dinner.
8. Have a great attitude about eating new foods. Your attitude can often go a long way in helping your children to want to eat healthfully. If mom is excited, usually the kids are, too!
9. Make good food easily accessible. Wash and chop fruits and veggies and have them at-the-ready for snacks and meals. Kids are much more likely to reach for food that is cut up in a kid-friendly way!
10. Serve the fruits and veggies first at a meal. Fill up on these before you fill up on other items at meal times.
11. Teach your kids how to make smoothies. Let them experiment with different flavors and fruit combinations.
12. Serve cut up fruits, veggies, and other healthy lunch items in a muffin tin.
13. Talk about what produce is in season and have your child pick out seasonal produce at the grocery store.
14. Cut fruits and veggies into cute shapes and serve.
15. Make mealtimes fun: read aloud while your kids are eating. I find they will concentrate and eat what’s set before them better if their minds are busy listening.
16. Get creative: make faces or other fun designs with fruits and veggies!
17. Have a picnic! Kids seem to get more excited about eating when there is an element of fun and adventure involved.
18. Make some kind of dip for them to dip their fruits and veggies in. For a healthy option: try peanut butter or Greek yogurt.
19. Let your kids help in the kitchen. They usually love the opportunity to work alongside you and are more excited about eating what they have helped to make.
Want more ideas to encourage your kids to eat healthier?
A great ebook to consider reading is Kids Eat Real Food by Vanessa Pruitt. This ebook really inspired me to not only be more proactive about getting my kids to love wholesome food, but also to talk to them about where our food comes from and the importance of filling their bodies with good food.
Kids Eat Real Food is an ebook on how to raise children with a passion for real food. This book approaches healthy eating from every angle so that you can create new habits for the entire family without forcing, bribing, or “hiding” fruits and vegetables in recipes.
You’ll learn:
- How to start early and get babies and toddlers to love real food
- Tips for "late starts" and getting older children to eat healthier
- Activities that involve children in growing, sourcing, and obtaining real food
- How to make healthy eating fun for kids
- Plus, this ebook has menu ideas for every meal and 29 real food recipes that kids love.
Grab a copy of Kids Eat Real Food, plus copies of A Practical Guide to Children's Health, The Happy Housewife's Guide to Dealing with Picky Eaters, First Bites and Beyond, a Crash Course in Natural Parenting, and many more natural living ebooks, e-courses, and some cool free bonuses — all for just $29.97!
Are you giving something away on your blog this week? If so, post your link below and let all the readers here know so they can get in on the action! Your giveaway must be family-friendly and no-strings-attached. In addition, to make it easy to navigate, your link must go directly to your giveaway post. Links going to the homepage of your blog or any other part of your blog besides the direct link to your giveaway post will be deleted. Links left solely for the purpose of promoting an affiliate link will also be deleted.
