How to make eating healthy fun for kids and teens

Tips for making nutrition fun for kids

By Kristen Miller, clinical dietitian at CHOC

Eating a balanced diet full of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, protein, and dairy/dairy alternatives, as outlined by MyPlate, promotes a child’s growth and development. But it is not uncommon for kids to gravitate towards highly-processed foods such as crackers, chicken nuggets and French fries.

So, how do we encourage kids to try different foods and make healthier choices? One way is to make food fun!

Go grocery shopping together

Mealtime starts long before we get in the kitchen. What we choose in the grocery store leads to what is available when we open the refrigerator for an afternoon snack.

So, as you are walking through the produce section, talk about the foods you see. What color is it? Does it grow on a tree or under the ground? Is it big or small? Is it sweet or sour? Encourage your child to pick out a new fruit or vegetable to bring home and try. Kids are often more invested in trying a new food if they picked it out themselves.

Get cooking together

A great way to get kids and teens excited about healthy foods is to cook together. Use the following tips to involve your kids when preparing meals:

Give your kids a job.

Most kids love to help. Give them an age-appropriate job in the kitchen. Preschool aged children can wash fruits and veggies under running water, mix ingredients in a bowl, spoon out yogurt onto their plate, or organize veggies on a sheet pan. With adult supervision, older school aged children and teens can chop produce, measure ingredients, and follow a recipe.

Use different cooking methods.

Using different cooking methods will change the texture of the food. Try baking, sautéing, boiling, steaming, air frying, or just eating fruits and veggies raw or even straight out of the jar/can. 

Add different seasonings and sauces.

Herbs and spices are your best friend. Add garlic, fresh basil, or some lemon zest to enhance the taste of your food. Dipping sauces, honey (only serve honey to kids one year and older), or a splash of maple syrup can add a little sweetness to a more bitter tasting vegetable like brussels sprouts.

Get creative in the kitchen

Use this quick, creative tips to help make healthy foods look more fun and appetizing to your kids:

Incorporate shapes.

Bring out the cookie cutters and make hearts, stars, or dinosaurs out of sandwiches or cucumbers.

Use “sprinkles!”

What kid (or adult) doesn’t love putting sprinkles on top of food? Use chia seeds, pepper, poppy seeds, flaxseed, or sesame seeds to add healthy “sprinkles” to the top of food. Better yet, let your child shake out the “sprinkles” themselves.

Use fun utensils and tableware.

Colorful or swirly straws can encourage your child to drink their water or dairy. Plates, forks, and spoons with their favorite characters printed on them can entice children to sit at the table to eat their meal instead of walking around and grazing.

Get colorful.

Pick out bright, vibrant foods using the colors your kids love. Have your kids choose veggies of every color of the rainbow to make a rainbow pizza:

• Red: Bell pepper, tomatoes, radish

• Orange: Bell pepper, shredded carrots

• Yellow: Bell pepper, squash, corn, yellow potatoes

• Green: broccoli, spinach, bell pepper, asparagus, zucchini

• Blue/Purple: Onion, eggplant, red cabbage, olives, beets

Plant a garden

For kids who like to be outside and get dirty, planting a garden is a fun way to encourage healthy food choices. Planting the seeds, watering the soil, watching the sprouts pop out of the ground, and ultimately harvesting the produce is a great way to get children more connected to their food.

Let your creativity run wild. There are so many ways to make healthy food fun!

Recipes

Rainbow Flatbread Pizza

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 13 minutes

Servings: 2

Ingredients

• 2 flatbread wraps
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 cup pizza sauce
• 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
• 1/3 cup diced red vegetables (red pepper, tomatoes)
• 1/3 cup diced orange vegetables (orange bell pepper, carrots)
• 1/3 cup diced yellow vegetables (yellow pepper, yellow squash, banana peppers)
• 1/3 cup diced green vegetables (asparagus, broccoli, green pepper)
• 1/3 cup diced purple vegetables (eggplant, red onion)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brush olive oil on flatbreads and sprinkle with garlic powder.

2. Bake for 5 minutes until flatbread is partially crispy.

3. Spread sauce onto flatbread and top with cheese. Top with vegetables and lay in a rainbow pattern on top of the cheese.

4. Bake for 8 minutes or until cheese is melted and pizza is hot.

Recipe courtesy of The Nutritionist Reviews

Ants on a log: Three ways

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes

Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 3 stalks celery
• 2 tablespoon peanut butter
• 15 raisins
• 2 tablespoon hummus
• 1 tablespoon pine nuts
• 2 tablespoon cottage cheese
• 5 grape tomatoes

Instructions

• Cut the celery into pieces that are 3 inches in length, for a total of 9 pieces.
• Use a butter knife to spread the peanut butter into 3 pieces of celery, hummus into 3 pieces of celery, and cottage cheese into 3 pieces of celery.
• Top with desired toppings. I pair raisins with peanut butter, pine nuts with hummus, and grape tomatoes with cottage cheese. 
• Serve immediately and enjoy!

Recipe courtesy of The Butter Half

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