A family came into my office this week excited to share their plan to get their child to eat new foods and increase his intake of fruits and vegetables.  They have created J’s Taste Kitchen which stars their youngest son who currently lives mostly on chicken fingers and pancakes.  The Taste Kitchen will be a special event weekly during which the child will taste and review one new food.  The family plans to make a video of the tasting each week in the spirit of popular cooking and food programs. J’s parents will work with J to choose each week’s tasting.  Foods he likes will be added to the family dinner rotation.  J will earn points for every food he tastes which he will cash in for a variety of rewards including extra screen time, 10 extra minutes of staying up before bedtime and extra bedtime stories.

What I love about this plan is that it is fun, incorporates technology, involves the whole family and can be kept within the family food budget. It also puts J in charge of some of the decisions about the food he eats which is likely to cut down on family feuds.

Getting children involved in cooking and shopping for food is a wonderful way to expand their interest in healthy eating.  There are a number of television shows cropping up that feature young chefs and bakers to inspire your picky eater.  Cookbooks with bright pictures and simple to follow instructions can help you involve your child in the weekly meal prep and cooking utensils designed especially for young people can help you feel comfortable turning your child loose in the kitchen.  A quick internet search can lead you to many recipes that substitute or add in fruits and vegetables to current family favorites.  Planting and growing vegetables can help you and your family feel more involved with the food you put on the table.

The following resources are just a tiny sample of what’s available to help you in your effort to inspire healthy eating.  Involving the family in fun and easy options might just end the dinner-time wars.  I’m sure hoping that happens for J!

Kid Cookbooks

Chop Chop: The Kids’ Guide to Cooking Real Food with Your Family ; Chop Chop also publishes a magazine and website featuring child cooks and recipes.

My A to Z Recipe Box: An Alphabet of Recipes for Kids: includes brightly colored and easy to follow recipes on cards that can be taken to the grocery to pick out ingredients.

Kid Cooking Supplies

www.GrowingCooks.com offers many kid-friendly utensils and kitchen items made for small hands.

www.CuriousChef.com offers recipes, blogs and utensils including safe cooking knives for small chefs at affordable prices.

Websites and Apps

www.thesneakychef.com includes recipes and products for adding fruits and vegetables in your family’s diet.

Nicolas’ Garden is a mobile app developed by 8 year old Nicholas that can be used by children and adults to find, plan and save healthy recipes and share them with others.

 

Please add to this list by posting some of your favorite ways to encourage children to eat healthy and check out our two-part course How to Get Children to Eat Healthy