Healthy food doesn't have to be a boring conversation with your child. Kids will be more willing to eat healthy if you show them the wide variety of healthy options, explain how food is grown, and let them help cook.
It’s actually fairly easy to explain the importance of healthy snack to your child because children are enthralled by things like shape, color, and size, and introducing them to healthy fruits, grains, or vegetables every week will intrigue them.
1. Make grocery shopping into a game.
Allow children to participate in your shopping experience rather than merely dragging them around the store. You can, for instance, read food labels to them if they are old enough and quiz them about the difference between natural and chemical names. Another things that you can do is to ask them pick things off the shelves for you, arrange them neatly in shopping carts by shape or color or food group, or show them how to scoop grains or nuts out of bulk bins.
2. Visit a local farm or farmer’s market.
A farmer or someone who grows food for sale in a farmer’s market will enjoy sharing stories of how foods are grown. Children will enjoy learning about nature, where foods come from, and how they are grown. Children will enjoy developing a greater understanding of the food they eat.
3. Arrange a visit with your local greengrocer.
If you are not able to visit a farm or go to a farmer’s market, then you can talk to the manager of your local greengrocer to give your children an introduction to the rich variety of foods available in the produce section of the grocery aisle.
4. Plant a garden with your children.
Children love the experience of getting their hands on things, and there is no better way to give them this experience than gardening. They will feel that they are accomplishing something productive by sprouting seeds and watching the tender shoots come out of the rich soil. Teach children how food is a gift from nature. If you don’t have a garden, you can use pots to grow herbs.
5. Ask for your children’s help when cooking.
Yet another way for children to get involved in getting hands-on experience with food is through cooking. You can teach them how to do simple tasks in the kitchen, how flavor is added to food through sauces and spices, and how to present foods in an attractive way on the dinner table. Colorful fruits and vegetables will intrigue them.
6. Create special containers for snacks.
Children can help you buy colorful containers or you can make it a craft project. Allow children to shape, cut, color, and label their own containers.
7. Talk about foods in an interesting way.
Foods can be introduced in a variety of ways—as a taste test, by heritage, by history, by tradition, or even through anecdotes or short stories. This information can be easily discovered through the Internet or through the local library.
A healthy snack is an investment in your children’s health and well-being. When these snacks are introduced in a fun and interesting way, through games, intriguing education, or involving them in some food-related activities (like shopping, cooking, or gardening), children will be delighted to eat tasty, nutritious foods.
