8 Hacks to Get Kids to Eat Healthy April 22, 2016

by Tips & Tricks

^7423FE0C64C81F80D52688326103CB0393FE601C39D05AF6EF^pimgpsh_fullsize_distr.jpg

1. Get them Involved in Cooking

Lauren’s a HelloFresh customer and a mom. Her stepson’s such a fussy eater but she told us recently:

“No longer are we hiding spinach in his smoothies. Instead, we’ve realized that involving him in the cooking process can really get him excited about food. He used to hate eggs, and almost any food that wasn’t beige. Helping us knock up a fancy Eggs Florentine at the weekend (and pretending we’re in Italy) is a sure fire way to get him wolfing down wholemeal bread, eggs and spinach.”

2. Try Using Dips

Ok, ok – it’s a bit sneaky but it could work. Just cut up some carrots or cucumber and dip it into your kid’s favorite dip. If you get them to choose the dip… they can’t say no!

3. Practice What you Preach

Sorry guys, but you know it’s the truth. If you enjoy vegetables sincerely, that will rub off on your kids. There’s no way of getting your kids to eat their veggies if you don’t actively and consistently eat them and rejoice when you do. Make sure you really show how much you’re enjoying them in every meal. Stop making the meat and potatoes the hero of every dish, and try making veggies shine in a meal once a week – rather than just a side. Make sure you don’t always cook veggies in the same recognizable way.

4. Put Salad on the Table

Jamie Oliver isn’t just a chef, he’s also a father. He was chatting about his kids recently and he gave us a great tip:

“One of my top tips is to always have a big bowl of salad on the table for them to get used to – even better, if you put it out ten minutes before the dinners ready, they’ll be so hungry they might even start picking at it.”

5. The “Try It” Rule

Make a new house rule. Everyone in the house – kids and adults – have to take at least have one significant bite of something, even if they don’t like it. Apparently some foods take up to 10 times of trying to acquire a taste for them. Don’t get discouraged if your child doesn’t like it the 1st, 2nd or even 9th time – keep on trying. You know what they say – practice makes perfect!

6. Word it Differently

When you say words like healthy, fit, “good for you” to a child, it doesn’t really have the same impact as it has on adults. Kids have yet to see aging so they will rarely see health benefits as a trigger to do something. It’s not a quick process, but tell them the story of the vegetable, where it came from originally and how it got to their plates. Kids love a good story, so if you can get them to love the story… they’re way more likely to try the food. Even better? Get them to grow it themselves!

7. Fruit Salad, Kids?

Make a delicious fruit salad and hide some veggies in it. Go for the sweeter ones (like carrots or sweetcorn pieces) make sure all the pieces of fruit and veg are pretty small so those kids won’t be able to notice the difference!

8. Don’t Make a Fuss

If your kids don’t like something, don’t make a big deal out of it, just try again at a later date.

Happy Cooking!

Previous post
Cloud Nine – Fluffy Cloud Bread Recipe Cloud Nine – Fluffy Cloud Bread Recipe
Next post
Happy Earth Day! Happy Earth Day!

Related posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *