Have you ever wondered how to get kids to eat healthy? Some of my biggest frustrations as a parent is getting my son to WANT the healthier options! I am going to share some of the things I have implemented to get my son more involved in our food life. This includes things like including him in our weekly grocery shopping, choosing meals to make together at home and getting him to TRY more variety in what he eats.
Not every day is a good day! We have our days where he makes good choices and the other days where the majority of what he eats comes from a package :p {I’m just human after all!} But these little techniques have helped tremendously!!
Tip #1 – Grocery Shopping
I know it is not always “easy” to being the kiddos with you to the grocery store. Often times, by the time I am done, I am ready to get HOME and fill a 64 oz YETI cup to the top with Chardonnay. Or Vodka. :p
BUT – don’t miss out on this opportunity to TEACH/MENTOR and MODEL healthy shopping behavior to your kids!!! After all – nobody ever put parenting and convenience in the same sentence anyways, right?!!
SO – back to the Tip {and no – I am not writing this blog at a time where I’ve had 64 oz. of any aforementioned adult beverages lol}.
Bring your kiddo to the produce section…. Allow them to look around and choose something on their own. Have them choose a fruit and/or a vegetable they have not tried before. Hold back on your natural reaction towards whatever they choose!! Even if they pick up a big old green cabbage… roll with it. {Unless its something ridiculously expensive that you KNOW they’ll hate!}.
This is a chance for you to give you kid some freedom and ability to explore and make a decision. The object here is to let them pick something out themselves instead of being “told” what vegetable they should be eating. Whatever they choose – bring it home and eat it together!! Look at some recipes to try and pick something out together to use your new ingredient.
Mikey and I went grocery shopping two days ago and we did this exact thing. He chose a lemon for his fruit and parsnips for the veggie (we haven’t used those yet!). Let me tell you guys — He woke up SOOOO excited the next day to try his lemon!! He has had lemon flavored things before. Like lemonade, yellow starbursts, or yellow skittles LOL…
Anyways – at first he wanted me to peel the lemon and assumed he would eat the segments like you would an orange. I told him that was probably not a good idea!!! So we used my juicer and he tried the PURE lemon juice as is. I was proud of him!! He took two sips. Then we added it into a glass with water and some white cranberry/strawberry juice and he drank the rest that way.
The cool thing about this little experiment was that Mikey felt more confident after the fact. I could tell in his demeanor that he was proud of himself and he KNEW that I was proud of him as well for trying new things!
As long as you set the stage for your little human(s) to KNOW and believe that this “trial” will be judgement free – you should have a successful time. Do not set the stage to include an expectation that he/she must LIKE the final product. The ultimate goal here is to get your kids to notice all the variety of fruits/vegetables that are available and to get them out of their comfort zone and trying new things on a regular basis.
I hope this tip helps give you some ideas on some strategies to get your kids eating healthier!! It is all about being intentional and getting creative! OH – and being patient, too!!
I would love to know if you try this out and what your littles end up choosing for themselves!! Come back and comment or send me a message directly JennGreenberg@hotmail.com.
Check back shortly for my other two tactics!
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