In a world full of tasty junk food, it can be challenging to get your kids on board with eating veggies. Eating vegetables is good for us, so they are essential to feed your kids. Somewhere along the lines, they may have learned to push veggies away and enjoy almost any other food but vegetables.
Here are 5 ways to get your kids to eat more plants.
1. Reintroduce Foods
Don’t get discouraged if your kids don’t fall in love with vegetables after one or two tries. You may need to try exposing them to foods up to five times or more for them to decide if they like them truly. Sometimes they won’t even try the food and automatically decide they don’t like it. The only thing you shouldn’t do is force them to get the food. Let them choose to eat them naturally.
Kids might examine and poke at new foods they are unfamiliar with. The food can end up on the floor before it’s in their mouths. You can try to introduce them in slightly different ways, like cooked, raw, with seasonings or dips to help flavor and willingness for them to try. Encourage them to take at least one bite at each meal you serve veggies.
2. Introduce Them in a Fun Way
Instead of throwing bland old vegetables on a plate, try to make them look cute and fun. Kids are more likely to be drawn to foods that look colorful and are presented intriguingly. You don’t have to go to great lengths to make them look nice. It can be as simple ask setting up an array of veggies as the colors of the rainbow with multiple types of dips to try with them.
Certain veggies can even be cut into fun shapes or figures. Cucumbers could be sliced into stars or spell out letters of the alphabet so they can have their name written out by veggies. Celery and zucchini can be made into boats filled with spreads and toppings. They can even decide which ones they would like to try with it.
3. Hide Them in Other Foods
A skill that all parents should acquire is hiding fruits and vegetables in foods your kids don’t suspect it to be in. This is important to get the vitamins and nutrients they need. Plants allow your kids to have fiber, healthy fats and various vitamins. Especially when they are going through a phase of picky eating, experimenting with including nutritious foods will help them get the nutrients they need.
You can hide a bunch of greens and fruits in things like smoothies. Most of the time, the taste of veggies can’t even be noticed since there are so many fruits and other food with nutrients, like peanut butter, that mask the taste. This way, they can get nutrients from foods like spinach without even noticing it. The mixture of colors can also make this an even more fun experience since they get to try brightly colored drinks.
Foods like carrots, zucchini, and leafy greens are great for baking. You can blend them into the batter for pancakes and muffins. This way, you can bake something they like while sneaking in some vegetables with important nutrients. You can also try this with spaghetti sauce. The nutrients get hidden within the overpowering taste of the sauce.
4. Start a Garden
Getting the kids involved may spark their interest in trying new things. You can start a garden full of delicious foods like tomatoes and strawberries. Ask your kids what types of things they want to grow in the garden. When they grow, your kids will be excited to try what you planted together.
5. Include Your Kids in Meal Planning
Another way to make your kids feel involved is by letting them get involved in meal planning and deciding what fruit or veggie they want to try next. Bring them to the store and see what intrigues them. They can pick out whatever they want in the fresh food section.
After the store comes up with a recipe to use it in or if it can be eaten alone, let it sit on the counter, so it is ripe enough to try. If you guys are going the recipe route, try assigning tasks for them to do during meal preparation. Depending on their age, it can be anything from rinsing off the item, mixing the batter with a spoon, or being the taste tester. No matter what you choose for them to do, they are sure to love being involved with the process.
Veggies and fruits can be added to any meal of the day. No matter what you choose, make sure you let your kids, and be a part of the experience in hopes of them trying new things.
The Bottom Line
Getting your child to get more plants is a challenge in itself. You can find some loopholes to get your kids to try new vegetables. The best advice is to never give up on trying for your kids to get on board with healthy eating.
p.s. Related posts:
Using Books to Encourage Your Children to Eat Healthy
Using Books to Encourage Your Children to Eat Healthy
How To Model Healthy Lifestyle Habits To Your Children
Tips for Encouraging Your Child to Eat Healthy
9 Ways to Inspire Your Children to Eat Healthy
5 Ways to Stay Healthy as a Busy Mom
To examine any book more closely at Indiebound or Amazon, please click on image of book.
As an Amazon and IndieBound Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Follow PragmaticMom’s board Multicultural Books for Kids on Pinterest.
Follow PragmaticMom’s board Children’s Book Activities on Pinterest.
My books:
Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World
- Junior Library Guild Gold selection
- Selected as one of 100 Outstanding Picture Books of 2023 by dPICTUS and featured at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair
- Starred review from School Library Journal
- Chicago Library’s Best of the Best
- Imagination Soup’s 35 Best Nonfiction Books of 2023 for Kids
Amazon / Barefoot Books / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Amazon / Scholastic / Signed or Inscribed by Me
