Healthy Eating Activities For Kids

In this blog Club Hub shares a few Healthy Eating Activities For Kids that parents have shared with us. Good nutrition and healthy eating is really important during childhood. Parents are often looking for healthy eating activities for kids as they know how important it is for their little ones to eat healthily. Childhood is a really important time for growth and development. Good eating patterns and habits can be formed in the first few years of life, however there are lots of healthy eating tips for kids out there regardless of age.

Healthy Eating Activities For Kids

Below we will list a few healthy eating activities for kids. We will discuss some of these in more detail later in the article:

• Make food fun
• Look at your child’s overall diet rather than specific foods…
• Be a good role model
• Disguise tastes of healthier food they may dislike
• Sign them up to a baking class (online or local to you)
• Get children involved in shopping, preparing meal together, cooking together
• Ensure healthy snacks are available
• Limit portion sizes.
• No TV or electronic devices at meal times
• Try to eat together around a table if possible
• Try to eat early (not just before bedtime) and at the same time each day
• Talk about healthy eating with your child.
• Grow some fruit/vegetables together
• Offer lots of water! (Try infusions like cucumber and mint inside to make it more interesting)

Be Aware of your Child’s Overall Diet

Of course it’s totally fine for children to have treats, but in moderation. If you are looking for Healthy eating activities for kids then it’s important to remind yourself what your child should be eating.

According to the NHS a healthy, balanced diet for children should include at least 5 portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables every day. Meals should be based on starchy foods, such as potatoes, bread, pasta and rice (choose whole grain varieties when possible), vegetables, some milk and dairy products or alternatives (choose low-fat options where you can). Finally Some foods that are good sources of protein, such as meat, fish, eggs, beans and lentils. The Eatwell guide is a great way to understand more about having a balanced diet for your family.

Healthy Eating: Make food fun!

One of our first and foremost healthy eating activities for kids is to make food fun. Here is a few ways you could do that:

Make a Themed Feast – Healthy Eating Activities for Kids

Do your children love the Gruffalo or Peppa pig or maybe if they are a bit older they may like vampire stories or Harry Potter? Why not make a day of it and have a fun feast with your child.

Decide on a few recipes together and talk about what ingredients you will need. Make a list, go to the shops, buy the ingredients together, cook together, invite some friends or family over to enjoy the feast. For example if you decided on a Gruffalo feast you might want to make Scrambled snake (scrambled egg with spinach in) or terrible tusks (fruit kebabs). Make it a day to remember. Have fun and you may be surprised how much your children eat.  After all the fun maybe watch the film together after or read the story.

Play the blindfold game – Healthy Eating Activities for Kids

Set up a few plates with healthy food on and see if your child can guess what they are eating. You can ask them to use their other senses to find out what the food is. They can describe what they can taste, smell and feel.

Be a Good Role Model

Encouraging healthy eating can feel like a big task, and the fact you are reading up on healthy eating activities for kids is a fantastic start. It can be really hard to resist temptation in a world where sweets and chocolate are literally everywhere and quite often much cheaper than healthier alternatives. More often than not children will look up to their parents, so if they see you tucking in to a nice juicy apple when you are feeling a bit peckish they are likely to follow your lead if they see you do this enough times.

Don’t feel too bad if you opt for an oven pizza and chips, but if you can add some vegetables even if they are frozen to make the dinner more nutritious. Try to limit processed foods and have healthy meals and snacks planned for your children as well as yourself.

Being a good role model can also just mean having a chat about healthy eating. Try not to make it a big thing that they become worried about eating anything that may be more unhealthy but you can definitely talk about what things are healthy and what makes them healthy and what they do for the body. Obviously the age of this child will determine the level of conversation you have about this. For example imagine a 3 year old asks what foods are healthy… you might say. Well these carrots are very healthy. They are vegetables. Vegetables are healthy as they have lots of vitamins and minerals that are really good for your body.

You can also be a good role model by incorporating your child in shopping, prepping and cooking meals together.

Disguise tastes of healthier food they may dislike

According to many research studies and a book called Taste Matters-Why We Like the Foods We Do by J. Prescott, about 25 percent of people are “supertasters,” which means that they have strong taste receptors for bitter flavours, so mild foods like broccoli taste unpleasant. One of our Healthy eating activities for kids includes disguising healthier foods that they may dislike.

• Pair with foods your child may already like: Start by adding a slice of tomato to a toastie or very finely mushrooms into an omelette.
• Explore texture: If your child dislikes mushy vegetables, try them raw, shred them, grate them, blend them. If your child enjoys crunchy baked kale with a drizzle of olive oil can be a fantastic treat.
• Serve soups or blend vegetables into pasta: If the texture of both raw and cooked vegetables is not yours childs thing, simply puree them instead.
• Try making fun smoothies. Experiment with different types of fruit and vegetables. You could make a very healthy nutritious green smoothie which still tastes very nice with kale, spinach, kiwi You can put allsorts in to a smoothie
• Create fun recipes like cauliflower tots, carrot and cheese muffins or cauliflower pizza!

Ensure Healthy Eating Snacks Are available

One of our healthy eating activities for kids regarding making healthy snacks available is a really important one.

Making healthy food the most accessible and easiest choice will also increase the chances that your child will grab the fruit rather than ask for something that may not be as healthy.

On the other hand that is why we also suggest not keeping junk food in the house or at least out of reach and sight of your little ones.

At all times, try to have some vegetables, fruit and healthy foods in your kitchen that you know your children like. Healthy snacks can take a bit more prep but can make such a difference to your child’s health.

Here are some examples of yummy but very healthy snacks you may want to prepare:

• Natural Yogurt (why not add a little bit of banana to sweeten and even a bit of honey)
• Easy-to-peel bananas, oranges
• Ready cut grapes, strawberries, berries in containers stored in the fridge
• Hummus dip with raw cut up pepper/carrots in a container
• Ready cooked halves boiled eggs
• Rice cakes
• Mashed avocado and banana
• Healthy muffins (made from 2 banana, a cup of oats and 1 egg)
• Sugar snap peas
• Cherry tomatoes
• Crackers with low fat cheese
• Dried fruit (halves apricots, dried apples, mango)

Healthy Eating Cooking Classes

Another one of our healthy eating activities for your kids includes attending an online or local cooking class. If your child enjoys cooking, this can be a fantastic hands-on way to explore more food and teach your child about foot nutrition in a fun environment.

Club Hub UK has the largest selection of Cooking kids clubs. If you see a Cooking kids club in your area that is missing from our list, tell the owner to add their listing.

Please use our search engine to find kids cooking classes online or near you.

Also check out our Blog Article “Easy Cooking Recipes for Children”.

Grow your own Fruit & Vegetables – Healthy Eating Activities for Kids

Many children love gardening as it’s very rewarding and it’s a fantastic way to teach them about healthy eating. You may want to plant some runner beans, a few tomatoes, some potatoes (you can get grow bags where they grow in the bag), lettuce and much more. Why not have a go and see what you can produce. The joy of planting, harvesting, cooking and eating your own crops is so rewarding and can be a fabulous way to help your child eat more healthily.

We hope you enjoyed reading all about “Healthy Activities for Kids”. Looking for Kids Activities Near You? Please check out our website or app – www.clubhubuk.co.uk