Get Your Kids Excited To Eat Healthy!
Kids can be resistant to healthy eating, here are my top tips to get them on baord and excited for the possibilities with healthy meals!
I know we are not the only family that sometimes resorts to letting the kids eat whatever they want, since lets face it, we get busy! These tips are based on the ways that we have been successful in guiding our kids to having a sense of ownership in eating healthy and being excited about trying new meals!
Fun Meals = Happy Kids
Quick note-we utilize commissioned links to products we love or think you will love. If you click a link in our post and make a purchase, we might get a small kickback and buy a coffee or something. So, we all love to eat what we feel like eating because we like it, right? Kids are the same way, and so with us, finding ways to both create healthier versions of what our kids want and expanding their palates were the main points we focused on with discovering and implementing the steps that led us to create these tips. After all, we also wanted to make sure that our attempts to get our kids interested in eating healthier were fun for everyone involved. The process of cooking and eating should be fun and result in a meal everyone enjoys.
Involved Your Kids
From Start To Finish
1. Have your kids come up with a list of their favorite meals and snacks. Discuss which of their choices are healthy & if not, how to make a healthy version.
2. Build a list of meals and snacks together to plan the menu for the week. Discuss which types of meals are the ones they are most excited to make!
3. Finalize the list of foods you will want to eat in the coming week and write a list of ingredients to buy, separated by each section of the store.
4. With this categorized shopping list, head to the store when it is least crowded and you are all well fed to ensure an easy collaborative shopping experience with your kids.
5. In the store, have your kids choose between closed option choices for each item so that they can have ownership of the process as well, while still staying within the budget.
6. Have them help decide where to store the food once you are home (within reason) so they understand the process of stocking a kitchen with food.
7. Allow your kids to choose what sorts of meals they want on any given day, then prep for the cooking process together and make the meal together.
8. Have your kids
9. Discuss the food during dinner, so that the kids can understand what they are eating, why they like the meal and why it is good for them.
10. Finally, recap the whole process with your kids as you clean up together and discuss the plan for the next meal.
Bonuses For The Steps
So, if your kids are interested in any kind of new information you can offer them, like most are, then consider these additional bits to add to the above guidelines:
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Get them on Pinterest or Instagram (with you of course) to look at the many options for inspiration: recipe videos, meals, photos, guides…
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Perhaps create Pinterest boards for what they like with each meal or main protein, season,
day of the week, etc. -
Make your list all fancy and categorized on an Excel or Google Spreadsheet to get them learning the ins and outs of tech in everyday life.
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Include the ingredient prices and calculate totals for price per ingredient and estimate the cost per person, per meal. This is so they can understand the math involved and see how math can be used in daily life.
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If teaching about budgeting, also set goals for sticking to certain numbers.
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Let your kids help organize the cart so that certain ingredients are not smashed, and everything will fit.
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Appoint your kids as the list keeper, so they can be the navigator and check off whether everything was found in each section of the store.
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Let them tell you how to help them in putting away the groceries, so they can organize the kitchen how they like as the ones who will be later taking out and putting pack items for the meals.
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Let them take ownership of as many meal prep functions as possible, and be the assistant in cooking the meals.
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Allow them to be creative in the kitchen and come up with new ways to present the foods that they choose to make for the family.
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Teach them the reasons why it is important to keep a clean and organized kitchen and home, as it relates to having consistency and helps maintain a clean organized life.
Maybe someday with all of these options, I will make a smoothie that will cause my husband to actually like them! Roy is totally not a smoothie fan. I am guessing if you’re reading this that you like smoothies…
So, what is your favorite smoothie? Tell us in the comments and don’t forget to share this with your friend who loves a good smoothie!
Until next time friends,
Location
P.O. Box 724 Ellenwood, GA 30294
Contact
Talk to me here:
jennifer@realfoodtoheal.com