- MODEL YOUR VEGGIES: If you eat your veggies then your kids will eat theirs too. Research suggests the chances a child eats recommended amounts of healthy foods double if their parents do. See more on parent role modeling.
- STOCK THE FREEZER: Try fresh vegetables in frozen form to get your kids’ favorite vegetables all year round. Kids love carrots, corn and peppers – all easy-to-prep options to keep in your “frozen pantry.” See 10 top frozen foods for frozen veggie ideas .
- GIVE KIDS A CHOICE: Just giving kids a couple of options could mean more veggies. Kids may prefer carrots to celery (they chose carrots 90 percent of the time, in a recent study) but when the choice was offered, they ate 18 percent more than when carrots were the only option.
- POWER KIDS’ PLATES: Help kids create their own veggie-powered plate, and follow MyPlate advice to fill half the plate with fruits and veggies. The plate size (and even design) can affect how much kids eat. Research shows that large plates and certain plate designs can cause people to take an extra 20 percent or more without knowing it.
- PLAY THE NAME GAME: Several studies have shown that veggie sales increase as much as 27 percent after carrots become “x-ray vision carrots” and broccoli turns into “broccoli bites.” Come up with your own veggie names, or challenge the family to “name that vegetable.” See the Super Crew® for more great ideas.
- GET KIDS IN THE KITCHEN: Look for simple, easy recipes that the entire family can cook. Encourage your kids to discover what they enjoy about veggies too. Incorporating already-prepped frozen veggies and the microwave can make cooking safe and easy for kids.
- CREATE SUPER SHOPPERS: Kids are more likely to eat what they help pick out, so bring the kids along on your next supermarket trip and let them pick their vegetables. Encourage them to try something new, such as blends of different vegetables, full of diverse tastes, colors, and textures.
- VEGGIE ASPIRATION: Help your kids develop healthy habits that will last a lifetime. Motivate the little ones and show them that eating healthy foods, like vegetables, can help set them up for success in the activities they love to do.
- GO FOR THE RAINBOW: Brighten up kids’ diets to help them eat a rainbow of nutrients. Choose different colors and varieties of vegetables, or vegetable blends, to create a palette of key nutrients kids need.
- ALWAYS READY: Busy schedules make it important to have quick and easy options on hand for the kids. Stock the freezer with frozen vegetables year-round, and you’ll have convenient, and tasty, vegetables ready to serve at a moment’s notice.
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