My children love fruits and vegetables; I do not have to trick them into eating their greens, coax them, or make threats. They are more than willing to gobble these healthy goodies right up. I have been told that I am lucky my children love vegetables and fruit, but I wouldn’t call it luck – it happened by design. I have been encouraging good food choices since my oldest was very young. I have used many strategies and I wanted to share five of them with you today.
- Let your child pick one fruit or vegetable from the store each week. I did this with my children for a very long time. Being able to choose what to buy made them more likely to eat it. Most weeks they picked something they had never tried before and we pretty much ran out of new produce to try. My son was super excited when he found this brussel sprout stalk at Trader Joe’s.
- Tie what is on their plate into what is in their stories. For example, The Very Hungry Caterpillar eats a lot of produce. Many children’s stories and movies have characters who eat fruits or vegetables in the story. Playfully remind your child of this.
- Role play with your food. Younger children may enjoy pretending food is something other than what it is. For example, we used to call broccoli “little trees” and pretend we were long neck dinosaurs gobbling them up. This never failed in our home.
- Make green smoothies. My children love making suggestions as to what to include in our green smoothies. Sometimes they recommend things I would never think to add. But with the right ingredients, green smoothies can be delicious and fun.
- Grow your own produce. Children are more likely to eat produce willingly and joyfully when they have a hand in the growing process. Not only is it educational and fun, it is also very healthy.
I hope at least one of those ideas is helpful to you. Remember to encourage your children to eat a colorful diet (and no, I do not mean Skittles and Fruit Loops 
).
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Twitter: FabFindsbyNGxo
says:
Great ideas. I’ll do anything to get my daughter excited about veggies.
Tiffany Cruz recently posted..Kushyfoot Flats-to-go Fall 2011
I am so excited that they love veggies so much. I will keep your tips in mind when I have my little one.
Twitter: east9thstreet
says:
My daughters mainly eats veggies and fruits but is reluctant to try NEW ones. I’m going to use these ideas to see if it works with her. Thanks!
Sarah BB recently posted..12 Days of Pumpkin {Day 1 Pumpkin Brownies}
Hope it works!
Twitter: nanddwithnikki
says:
My older son loves fruits and veggies, he eats those before the actual meal so I don’t have to trick him either. My younger son, on the other hand, won’t eat any veggie baby food so I think I’m going to have my hands full with him!
Isn’t it funny how 2 kids from the same family can have such different tastes?!
Twitter: CreativeFam
says:
I only recently discovered the huge difference having a garden makes on kids eating veggies! They love to monitor it, pick it, and then find ways to eat it!
Heather recently posted..Nice Forks
I love to garden. It is so great to watch the kiddos get excited.
I would have picked the brussel sprout stalk too! What great tips!
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Twitter: ALifeinBalance_
says:
I have 5 kids, and each one has a slightly different take on vegetables. My oldest did not like them very much until his taste buds started to change. My 6 year old and 3 year old will try stuff. The 3 year old is the most adventurous.
We’ve had a vegetable garden for a long time which has helped a bit with the vegetable issue. We also encourage our kids to help in the kitchen. In the end, we do have them eat a few bites, but we don’t make a big deal about it.
Barb recently posted..halloween birthday party
Cute photo! My younger kids are veggie phobic. Really. They eat raw carrots and cooked broccoli. That is the only veggies they eat – other than tomato in spaghetti sauce and ketchup.
These are great tips! My son is more likely to eat meals he helped plan and/or make. Also, even if he doesn’t like a vegetable when it’s served plain, he’ll often try it in a sauce or other more interesting preparation; Red & Green Pockets using peas and tomatoes is one of his favorite meals.
‘Becca recently posted..I didn’t know that was a forest!