Over at my friend Robyn’s site – Balance in Diet, she offered up some tips for getting your kids to eat more fruits and vegetables. Like Robyn, I don’t have any problem getting our kids to eat fruits and vegetables – we don’t even have to sneak them in. Here are four ways to encourage your kids to eat more vegetables:
1. The Help Yourself Zone
Create a “Help Yourself Zone” in the kitchen where you keep healthy snacks like fresh vegetables, fruits, and nuts (if your kids are not allergic) within reach. Set out a bowl of sugar snap peas and some cherry tomatoes after school and you would be surprised how fast they go!
2. Use Veggies as an Appetizer
Offer up a fresh salad or a bowl of veggies as an “appetizer” like you get in a fancy restaurant while the kids are waiting for the finishing touches to be put on dinner. They will fill up on the good stuff making it less likely they will go for seconds or thirds of the starches or dessert.
3. Make Veggies into Toppings or Mix Ins
Next time you make a batch of pasta, pasta salad or serve baked potatoes, place bowls of fresh and leftover cooked veggies out as mix-ins. My girls love green peas mixed into pasta. Steamed yellow squash and zucchini are also a big hit for pasta toppers.
4. Get Kids Involved at the Grocery Store
Every time we are in the vegetable section of the grocery store I have to be sure to assign veggie tasks simultaneously or an argument over who’s turn it is to weigh the veggies is bound to break out. My kids love picking out the vegetables, weighing them and printing out the pricing labels while we shop. Don’t ask why, but its something they think is so cool – so run with it!
Do you have any additional tips for getting kids to eat more vegetables or try new varieties?