Kids and Healthy Eating
Very often I hear from Moms and Grandmoms alike that they wish they could encourage their kids/grandkids to eat more healthy food like fruits and of course, veggies.
As well, for many of you right now, you are spending more time at home and trying to find activities that will entertain and enhance your children’s day and mental health.
One way to pull these two ideas together is to involved children in the food planning/preparation process.
They can be a great help and if you make it fun, they will not see it as a chore, and it will help develop life skills. Naturally it depends on the age of the child as to what activity you get them involved in.
They might help load/unload the dishwasher; help by gathering the ingredients for a recipe; help measure out some of the ingredients; help with chopping fruits/veggies (older children with supervision).
Once again, depending on their age, you might even let them make one of the week’s meals – a breakfast smoothie, pancakes, salads – fruit or garden, tacos, etc.
When it comes to getting children to try new foods, it is always best not to force the issue or cause any undo stress. Maybe try introducing one new food with two that they already like. And you can be a model to them by showing them that you are eating and enjoying this “new” food. It may take a couple of times, so patience is, as they say, a virtue.
You can help to develop good eating habits in your children by being an example yourself, and by always having healthy food items available for them.
Speaking of having healthy food items available - I can’t think of anything cuter and more fun than the following idea*.
You can use the ingredients listed or come up with some of your own together with your kids/grandkids.
I hope you and your kids/grandkids will get a kick out of this idea and will enjoy both the making of these and especially the munching of them.
Just sayin’ is all!
Crudité Critters
Photo by Steven Giralt
Ingredients
Snails
celery stalks
peanut butter or cream cheese, at room temperature
sliced apple
sliced orange
sliced kiwi
sliced cucumber
sliced tomato
cashews
Caterpillars
celery stalks
peanut butter or vegan cream cheese, at room temperature
grapes
blueberries
grape tomatoes
candy eyes or black olive pieces
celery or radish matchsticks
Directions
Make the snails. Fill celery stalks with peanut butter or cream cheese and top with an apple, orange, kiwi, cucumber or tomato slice shell and a cashew head. Use peanut butter or cream cheese to glue on candy eyes.
Make the caterpillars. Fill celery stalks with peanut butter or cream cheese and top with grapes, blueberries or grape tomatoes for the body and head. Use peanut butter or cream cheese to glue on candy eyes and celery or radish matchstick for antennae.
*Recipe/Idea from Good Housekeeping
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