How to Make Healthy Food Exciting for Kids

Cooking with your kids can be loads of fun, little ones always enjoy getting messy in the kitchen and often they learn something too! Being able to cook for yourself is one of those vital adult skills that are worth learning as early as possible. Especially as research now suggests that those who know how to cook and are confident in the kitchen tend to eat better and be healthier as a result. So, to help you get cooking with your children, take a look at these fun activities for kids using healthy fresh ingredients!

Vegetable art:

Yes, we usually tell our kids not to play with their food but in this case, we think it’s worth making an exception. A lot of vegetables actually make great tools for making art and what’s better than creating something beautiful and then being able to eat it? Take a favourite scene or character and try to recreate it in colourful veg. Stuck for inspiration? Try a simple beach image. Use yellow peppers for the sand, spinach for a wavy sea and a carrot-topped with mint as a colourful palm tree. There are so many options with this fun activity for kids that once you get started the creative juices will be flowing and who knows what you’ll end up making.

Veggie cakes:

vegetable cake — Catherine Berwick’s tasty Parsnip and Maple Syrup Cake.

Lots of children like sweets and cakes and limiting their intake of these sugary treats can be a challenge for parents. But what if there’s a healthier option? Replacing some of the ingredients in cakes with veggies is a long-established baking option and one that increases the nutrient content of your pudding. Children will love the novelty of putting carrots, courgettes and even parsnips into cakes, but each of these options can actually make something very tasty too. There are a few great recipes online for this sort of thing.

Catherine Berwick’s tasty Parsnip and Maple Syrup Cake is a good starting point – click here for the full recipe.

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Milkshake ice-pops:

Milk is good for building healthy bones and the calcium contained in dairy products is also vital for processing important bodily vitamins. So what better way to get your recommended daily allowance than through fun, milk-pops? These are ideal for the warmer weather and are a healthy option compared to sugary ice-lollies or fatty ice-cream. Just blend your favourite fruit – strawberries, raspberries and blueberries are all good options – then mix with milk and poor into a mould. If they like something sweet try adding agave syrup or honey. Once you’ve got a basic recipe sorted, kids can experiment by adding different textures and flavours. Banana, kiwi and orange are all strangely tasty when cold.