It’s no secret that it can be tricky to get kids excited about eating healthfully. So I’ve been working on getting David into the kitchen with me a little more lately. And not just running around between my feet and pulling on my legs! I’ve had him helping me with simple dishes like chocolate dipped bananas, hummus, and even making a birthday cake for my mom.
manning the controls
Tasting—we do a lot of this!
Making a cake for Grandma!
David at 16 months—he wasn’t so great at helping yet, so I let him play with some of the ingredients on his tray. He loved pouring water into the flour, stirring, and just making a big mess! In his eyes he was baking a masterpiece!
When possible, let your kids help pick the ingredients and flavors to use. Yesterday David and I made some snack bars, similar to my Coconut Creme Lara Bars. I let him pick between almonds and walnuts, figs and dates, etc. Taking ownership of what we were making helped him to be even more excited. You can see the pride in his face!
Not bad for a 2 year old!
He also loves to open our farm box each week! I love seeing him pull a jumbo bunch of leafy greens out of the box and exclaiming “whoa, kale!” I’m super proud that he can identify so many fruits and vegetables!
Kale!
And when we go to the grocery store I always let him pick one produce item to bring home and try. Some stores will give kids a free fruit (PCC and Whole Foods do), but even if they don’t, to me it’s worth the $1 if it gets David excited about eating healthy!
Having fun at the grocery store!
What do you do to get your kids excited in the kitchen?
[…] a few tips that have helped David and I work well in the kitchen together. (Note: I wrote a similar post about 6 months ago, but thought I would provide some more concrete tips for […]