Many parents struggle with getting their children to eat fruit and vegetables.
These are my top tips:-
Get children involved in growing vegetables by giving them a small patch in the garden; if children help to plant. grow and harvest the food they are more likely to eat it.
Also let them be involved with shopping for and preparing fruit and vegetables; even something as simple as washing carrots.
Visit a strawberry farm where the children can pick their own fruit. We used to do this as children and I can remember a family member telling me to eat as many as I could while we were there ( before getting the weighed and paid for!).
I used to take my child blackberry picking: Ensure that hands are washed after this as blackberries can attract flies.
At home we made pies and crumbles with our fruit.
Make your own smoothies, juice and milkshakes, which most children will drink without even knowing how much goodness they are getting.
Home made pizzas can have toppings of broccoli and other healthy foods, personally I love pineapple as a pizza topping too.
If you children will eat mash potatoes then mix it with a sweet potato mash , or even hide small pieces of veg in the centre.
Make food look appetising by using brightly coloured vegetables. give small portions so children aren’t put off by the amount of food on the plate. You can even make vegetables fun by making faces,
to eat.
Give children fruit cut up into pieces in a bowl rather than a whole apple or pear to eat. Fingers of yellow and orange peppers ( which are sweet and colourful) can be served in a dish alone or on a plate with a dip.
Don’t get into a battle with children over food you won’t win that one.
Set a good example by eating fresh fruit and vegetables yourself.
I have reviewed books that may be useful
Tasten’tell here
Things Evie eats here
More on fussy eaters here
Please share any tips that you have on this subject.
As always questions and comments are welcome.
Until next time.
Karen
x
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What an interesting blog, I loved the food face plates idea. The smoothies are great as well. Some really good ideas ,I thought the idea of growing thier own vegetables if they were lucky enough to have a garden would give them to chance to see to see the veg grow .
We planted a garden, seeing the fruit and vegetables grow seemed to have helped my daughter although not a lot of luck yet. Great ideas. #KCACOLS
Some brilliant tips here, thank you. My boys are rubbish at eating their veg. They pretty much only like cucumber, cherry tomatoes, and peppers. So they have them A LOT! Thanks so much for linking up at #KCACOLS. Hope you come back again next time
Yes to these fab tips they are really helpful x #globalblogging
Thanks, Sam, I do my best
I have been trying lots of these in an attempt to get my daughter to eat more, but it turns out she is incredibly strong willed, ha! The face plate does look fab – I might look for one of those #AnythingGoes
Good luck, Shelley, I advice being consistent with strong willed children
Great tips. Now how do you get a vegetarian to eat vegetables when they don’t want to??? (True story!) #StayClassyMama
Make something up like broccoli are baby trees and need to be eaten to grow, maybe!
Oh yes, it’s definitely a great idea to show little ones where food comes from. It really makes a difference doesn’t it. At the moment we have courgettes and tomatoes growing in our garden. I don’t think the novelty will ever wear off. Thank you for joining us for the #DreamTeamLinky x
It seems to help, Annette, thanks for sharing and for having me join your linky party
Fruit isn’t an issue but veg can be! I think hiding it in sauces works best for us. Thanks for linking up with #dreamteamlinky
Great tips I do believe in setting s good example x x #Dream Team Linky
I can’t eat raw fruit due to oral allergy syndrome so my kids have had to sort themselves! Thanks for linking up with #globalblogging
We actually planted the fruit trees this summer in our garden and our girls were very interested in the whole process. They go out every day and water them so I’m hoping this will encourage them to actually eat the fruit! It can definitely be a challenge to get them to eat certain foods, it’s all about using a little ingenuity. Great tips here! #globalblogging
That’s a great idea, Tracey, I wouldn’t be surprised if it does make them want to eat the fruit, thanks for sharing
Fab ideas – I LOVE those food face plates, so awesome!! #KCACOLS
The the faces on the plates are great, but I can’t take the credit for them, Hannah, I found the pictures during some research
Great advice. I love the food faces idea. I’ve taken Edward fruit picking and he loves to help me prepare food for dinner but still he won’t try anything, but then autism is a different kettle of fish altogether. Thanks for linking up with #StayClassyMama
Yes, it can be a little difficult with an autistic child, if you keep encouraging him, maybe Edward will surprise you one day, thanks for stopping by
We went to a Pick Your Own Farm today and I think it is great to show kids where food comes from and inspires them to try new things. Thanks for lining up with #stayclassymama
That’s great, Laura, thanks for sharing
Veggies can be a struggle. Some handy ideas here. My teen is back into toddler veg refusal mode, but I have been getting her to cook with me and for me and that has helped a lot.
Great tips, I love taking the kids to pick your own and making smoothies. #KCACOLS
Brilliant tips. Thankfully mine aren’t too fussy,but we do encourage new foods by having mini challenges at dinner time. There will be something that all of us has to try. It’s not forced but we discover new things we wouldn’t have tried otherwise.
That’s a fantastic idea, Zoe, thanks for sharing
I love these tips, especially the face. Been really lucky with Rowan as he will at least try most things – even eat sprouts. But he won’t try my crumble – not sure what that says about my baking 😀
And you are so right about not getting into a battle.
Thank you for sharing with #AdventureCalling
Ha! Thanks for stopping by
Great tips. We’ve found growing some of our own and going fruit picking has worked well and adding things to pizza can be quite effective too. #adventurecalling
Thanks for sharing your experience, Louise
Brilliant tips Karen, we struggle getting Finn to eat vegetables, although luckily he loves fruit. I have tried to get him involved in growing things, but he is so stubborn. I definitely agree about not getting into a battle-we’ve never won! I’m running late this month, but the new #AdventureCalling will be open shortly. Thank you for sharing another great post with us.
Glad you agree with my th Lauren