How to Make Healthy Eating Fun for Kids

One of the most frequent questions I get from readers and other parents is "How do you get your kids to eat so many different healthy foods?" .  Lucky for us Bridget Sandorford, culinary writer and today's guest blogger, has created a wonderful resource for you to encourage your child to eat healthy foods. Take it away, Bridget.... 

Every parent knows how difficult it can be to get kids to eat their peas and carrots -- or any other food that looks remotely like a vegetable or remotely healthy. Dinner time often turns into a tableside battle, with parents cajoling, coercing, or threatening in order to get their kids to eat the foods that are so important to their health and development.

While there will never be a magic bullet for getting kids to eat a healthy diet, there are a few tricks that can help you to avoid the battles and to get your kids to eat more nutritious foods. One of those tricks is to make healthy eating fun. Here are a few ideas for how to make healthy eating fun for kids:

Use Veggies in Their Favorite Dishes

Kids aren't likely to ever get excited about a plateful of plain Brussels sprouts. However, if you start with some of their favorite foods, you can slip in some healthy veggies and have them feeling excited about what they're about to eat. Add veggies to dishes like pizza and tacos, and add fresh fruits to desserts and toast. Your kids will get the nutrients they need and the taste they want.

Create Food Art

Most of the time, veggies just look boring. You can make healthy foods fun by creating food art. Make funny faces out of veggies on sandwich bread or fruit on waffles. Use fruits to create a "cake." Use pieces of cauliflower and some black olives to create a plate full of "sheep." Be creative and see what you can come up with! When all else fails, browse Pinterest for some fun ideas.

Grow a Garden Together

Kids are more likely to get excited about healthy foods when they are involved in the process of growing them. Start a small garden and involve your children in managing it. Allow them to pick out a crop or two to grow. Put them in charge of small sections of the garden. Let them take care of certain tasks, such as planting seeds or weeding. The more invested children feel in growing the food, the more excited they will feel about eating it when it's ready to harvest.

Cook Together

When kids are given some autonomy, they will more excited about whatever it is they are doing. You can get them more excited about eating healthy foods by inviting them into the kitchen to help you cook healthy foods. Assign age-appropriate tasks, such as rinsing veggies, breaking off stems, shelling peas, filling bowls with water, getting out pots and pans, and so on. The more you can involve kids, the more excited they will be about the resulting meal -- and the more pride they will feel in eating it.

Play Games about Healthy Eating

There are many online games that you can play with your kids to teach them about healthy eating and make them more excited about doing it. Try out Nourish Interactive (http://www.nourishinteractive.com/kids) for some ideas. When kids are done playing games, they will want to try out the foods they have learned about. Try to follow up with fun dishes that use ingredients they have just learned about.

Getting kids to eat healthy has been a struggle for parents across the ages. While you may never inspire a complete change of heart, you can get kids a little more excited about filling up on their fruits and veggies -- or at least giving them a fighting chance.

What tricks do you use to get your kids to eat more healthy foods? Share your tips in the comments!

About the Author:

Bridget Sandorford is a freelance food and culinary writer, where recently she’s been researching culinary schools in Cincinnati. In her spare time, she enjoys biking, painting and working on her first cookbook.