Ways to get your kids to eat (healthy) this summer

By Stacie Gaetz

Whether you have spent the summer at home with your kids feeding them what seems like endless meals and snacks all day or you have been working outside the home and trying futilely to scrape together something when everyone is finally together in the evenings, getting kids to eat healthy during their time off of school can be a challenge.

The good news is there are a few (fairly simple) things you can do to increase the chances that your kids will willingly eat the nutritious food on their plate (without a fight).

Make it together

I’m sure you have heard that children are much more likely to try food they make. Well, it’s a cliché because it’s true!

There are a number of easy recipes you can make together in little time (and with little mess) that will get kids interested in trying what they created.

Great ones for summer include those that don’t involve cooking such as simple salads, fruit kabobs, no-bake bars, trail/snack mix and smoothies.

See the recipe for No Bake Energy Balls at the bottom of this article for a healthy make-together snack that my kids can’t get enough of.

Don’t forget to allow your kids to come up with their own ideas of substitutes for ingredients they may not love and creative ways to stir or store the food.

Let them choose it

Whether you shop at a grocery store, farmer’s market or grow your own produce, letting your children choose the nutritious food you would like them to eat can go a long way in the chances that they will try it.

They might be more willing to sample an eggplant because it is their favorite color or taste a squash if they get to choose the one with the silliest shape.

“Do you want to get the whole wheat or vegetable crackers this week?” “Would you prefer banana nut or carrot muffins for your lunch?” Giving them some sense of control increases the likelihood that they will eat what they choose.

Of course, getting them to try healthy options may have to come with a bit of a bargain: “If you choose and try three vegetables this week, you can have the good cookies you like so much.”

Teach them where it comes from

My kids have never been vegetable or meat eaters. They didn’t even like purees with these in them as babies.

However, last spring we decided to start getting the bulk of our grains, vegetables and meats from local farmer’s markets and ranches. Read more about our decision to shop for food locally in our story here.

This made a huge difference in what my children were willing to eat. While we are at the markets and ranches, we chat with the owners/sellers about where the products come from and how they are grown/raised.

My kids were instantly interested in the stories and people behind the products and were much more likely to try “the peas grown by the nice old man” or the “beef that came from the lady who let us pet her horses.”

Make it fun

We have all made faces on waffles and pancakes with blueberries and whipped cream but there are countless other ways to bump up the fun factor of food and get kids interested in eating it.

Just about anything becomes more exciting when it is wrapped in a whole wheat tortilla. A favorite in our house is bananas and nut butter.

Re-shaping food is also a great way to increase children’s interest. Use cookie cutters to change anything from a boring cheese sandwich to most fruits and vegetables into a star, a squirrel or their favorite cartoon character.

Many kids will try foods they would have never considered if you give them something to dip it in. Ketchup, ranch dressing, tzatziki, yogurt, peanut butter… the possibilities are endless.

Don’t have a dipper? No worries try using crackers as building blocks or pretzels as tent pegs. Although we were taught not to play with our food growing up, there really is no harm in it and if it gets healthy food into our previously picky kids’ bodies, why not give it a try?

To kick up the fun factor of the energy balls in the recipe below, roll them in colorful sprinkles when you are done making them.

Getting our kids to eat the nutritious food we would like them to is less about the food and more about how involved they are in the process of choosing and making it. Even a child as young as four to six months old is more likely to eat the food out of the bowl they choose if you hold up two and allow them to have their pick.

Don’t let the last weeks of summer become a battle between you and your kids about what they eat. Give them some say in their supper and watch as they reach for their forks – then continue the food fun into the fall!

No Bake Energy Balls

• 1 cup quick oats
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 cup nut butter
• 1/3 cup almonds or other nut (smashed)
• 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries

Directions

1. Pour all ingredients into a bowl and mix them
2. Refrigerate your mixture for at least 30 minutes
3. When mixture is cold, scoop out spoonfuls and roll into small balls (roughly 12 per recipe)
4. Enjoy! Store your energy balls in the fridge for up to a week