Secrets that make healthy eating fun

Kids today consume a huge portion of processed and packaged food. If you’re tired of struggling with your kids to eat their vegetables, try these secrets to sneak in nutrition and make healthy eating for kids fun!

Make smoothies

Milk shakes and malts hold a special place in our hearts, but smoothies are here to stay. Blend up fruit, dairy, yogurt, kale, spinach, juice – you name it, you can probably add it to a smoothie. You can purchase frozen fruit and chop up fresh veggies for more nutrients. Some add peanut butter or almond butter for a different flavor. Don’t forget a dab of pudding flavoring for some sweetener. Honey serves as a great sweetener, too.

Color before cookies and crackers

All kids love cookies and crackers. Offer cut up apples with peanut butter, sliced pears and Nilla wafers, or berries and a piece of chocolate. Give combinations and make eating a game. Allow a bite of a cookie after a bite of fruit. Request your child take a bite of fruit or veggie for every year of their age. For example, “Have six bites of your apple because you are six years old. After those six bites, you can have your cookie.”

Dip it

Kids love to dip. Dips can mask a texture, a taste, or a smell and provide additional vitamins. There are dips you can buy in individual packets: guacamole, hummus, caramel dip, yogurt dips. In place of prepared salad dressings, make your own dips with less than 5 ingredients. Of course, don’t forget chocolate dip for your strawberries. All in moderation.

Grow a garden

Not only do garden vegetables taste better, the process from seed to harvest to serving is fun. Kids often enjoy making a garden and seeing results. Don’t have room for a garden? Take a trip to the farmer’s market. Let your kids pick out items for a meal, grab a bunch of flowers and some great bread and cheese – dinner will soon be served. Better yet, get ingredients for a spontaneous picnic in a park (or at home on a blanket in the living room).

Mix it up

Kids often like to eat the same thing over and over. Every once in a while, serve a different vegetable, prepare it differently, or even cut it differently. Foods can taste “different” when prepared and served in a variety of ways.

Be creative

Make funny faces on sandwiches with ingredients or simple treats like “bugs on a log” for kids. The sillier the better. Kids enjoy art and laughter and eating. You will be able to combine all three into one.

Image Copyright: Robyn Mackenzie/123RF