Vegetables can be a scary item on your picky eater’s plate, eliciting cries of, “Broccoli, yuck. Beans? No way. Kale? Don’t even think about it.” What’s a parent to do? I’ll let you in on a little secret — kids will eat their vegetables if they play with them first. So, it’s time to show your kids that vegetables are something they can love instead of hate.
Here are some activities you can do together with your kids at the dinner table — remember, the ultimate goal is to have them eat their veggies at the end of play time. It helps if you play along and eat the vegetables alongside your kids, and hey, it’s good for you too!
For the first two, we'll focus on kale, which seems to be a dirty word to some kids. But kale packs a lot of nutrition in one leaf, containing vitamins A, C, and K. Just one cup of raw kale meets your daily requirement for all those nutrients. Vitamin K is important for a healthy heart and strong bones, and reduces your risk of getting cancer.
This kale activity is a fun one because first you’re going to cook some kale with your kiddo and then play with raw kale. While your kale chips are in the oven, you can work on creating a ferocious kale dinosaur. I’m tellin’ ya, your kids will eat the kale chips, have fun, and learn that kale is tasty and totally not scary.
Baked Kale Chips
Ingredients:
1 bunch dinosaur kale (also called lacinato kale)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
Directions:
1. Wash hands and kale
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
3. De-rib the kale and tear into bite-sized pieces (kids love this step!)
4. Spread kale pieces on a baking sheet
5. Drizzle kale with olive oil and sprinkle with salt
6. Bake for 20 minutes, stirring halfway through
Ferocious Kale Dinosaur
Materials:
1 leaf dinosaur kale
Raisins
Various fruits and vegetables
Directions:
1. On a plate, use the dinosaur kale leaf for your dinosaur’s body
2. Use the raisins for your dinosaur’s eyes
3. Use other fruits and vegetables for body parts, examples include: a slice of apple for the head; carrots, celery, or sliced peppers for legs; cut-up radishes to make spikes
Here’s one more fun healthy food activity for good measure. You can be very creative with this one and incorporate in a whole array of healthy fruits, vegetables, and protein-packed nuts.
Tic-Tac-Toe Snack
Kids love tic-tac-toe. It’s a fun and quick game that teaches kids about strategy, since it involves looking ahead and trying to figure out what the person playing against you might do next. A fun way to get your picky eater to eat a healthy real food snack is to combine the awesomeness of tic-tac-toe with healthy food.
Here’s how you do it: Make a tic-tac-toe board with straight vegetables such as carrots, celery, green beans, or kohlrabi cut into long straight shapes. Get creative: you need four straight vegetables to make a board, and they don’t all have to be the same.
Use dried fruit and nuts for the “X's” and “O's” such as dried apricots, cranberries, raisins, almonds, peanuts, and cashews.
You can also include a healthy dip on the side such as hummus or peanut butter to dip your vegetables in. Now play tic-tac-toe and make sure to eat the game pieces as you play!
All photos provided by Budding Farmers
Monica Irwin created the Budding Farmers program, which teaches young children about healthy real food produced by their local farmers. She developed the program after working within the local food system as a CSA farmer, farmer’s market manager, community educator, and good food activist. She received her B.S. Degree from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana and currently resides in Northfield with her husband Dan, daughter Harriet, and a little dog and big cat. Follow Budding Farmers on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
