Fun Ways To Get Kids To Eat Their Veggies can turn mealtime into an enjoyable experience instead of a battle. Today, I’m sharing five creative tips to encourage little ones to eat their vegetables. If your child is anything like mine—or like I was growing up—you might need a few tricks to make veggies more appealing. Let’s make healthy eating fun!
Fun Ways to Get Kids to Eat Their Veggies
Getting kids to eat their veggies doesn’t have to be a struggle—it can actually be fun! One great trick is to make veggies more exciting by turning them into colorful shapes or fun characters on their plate.
Try arranging cucumber slices into smiley faces or making "rainbow skewers" with cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, and carrots. Another way to encourage healthy eating is by letting kids help in the kitchen—when they get to wash, chop (with supervision), or mix ingredients, they’re more likely to try what they’ve made.
You can also sneak extra veggies into smoothies, pasta sauces, or homemade muffins for a tasty boost. The key is to keep it playful and pressure-free—before you know it, they’ll be munching on veggies without a fuss!
Why Some Children Do Not Like Vegetables
Sometimes you'd think the word VEGETABLE is the worst word in the world. So many kids seem to have a thing against vegetables.
It’s like there is a children's handbook that says they are not supposed to like anything that is good for them and veggies are at the top of the list.
Kids also go through phases of being “picky eaters” where it can be even more difficult to get them to eat foods that are good for them. So, what can you do about it?
Today I have 5 fun ways to help our kids embrace vegetables. I hope you find this helpful. Be sure to check out this healthy and unhealthy food shorting worksheet here!
Sneak Vegetables Into Meals
If you’re creative, there are many recipes that call for vegetables in a way that you can’t really see or taste them in the food. Your kids won’t even realise they are eating them.
For example when making spaghetti bolognese or burrito mince, I will add grated carrot and grated zucchini and my daughter wont be any the wiser.
She gets her nutrition and I don't have a winging child.
If I put square carrots which are more visible into Sylvia's meals she would not want to eat them.
Get Kids Involved in Cooking
When kids help take part in the preparation and the choosing process, they are more likely to eat what you make. For a long time my daughter has refused to eat salad and lettuce.
One day I asked her to help me make a tasty salad. She helped me choose ingredients.
We added cheese which is something she loves and now she will eat a small side salad so long as she we have placed cheese with it.
Finding delicious vegetable recipes and preparing them together makes mealtime more enjoyable and encourages healthier eating habits. Experimenting with different seasonings and textures can also help introduce new flavors in a way that feels familiar and appealing.
Make Healthy Food Fun
Kids are never really too old for cutesy food. Make it look good on their plate and they’re much more likely to eat it. Sylvia and I love to make fun food.
You may have seen our vegetable train. It was a real hit. We also made veggie caterpillars which went down really well too.
Try raw versus cooked vegetables
Many people, children included, are much more likely to eat certain veggies raw versus cooking them. Carrots, spinach, and broccoli are good examples of this.
It can have a completely different flavour and consistency, plus you can make a cool dip for it.
I find adding sauces or tasty extras to vegetables makes a difference when it comes to getting my daughter to eat veg.
Create a Game With Vegetables
Build a game around the veggies. Maybe “Vegetable BINGO” or something similar.
When your kids eat different veggies, they can earn points toward a prize. Or you might want to see who can eat the most peas or pieces of sweetcorn using chopsticks.
There are plenty of games you could try to make vegetable eating more appealing to little ones.
What do you think of these ideas? Do you think you’ll try any of them with your family today? Let me know if you have any other suggestions. I'd love to hear from you.
Angela x
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Lol.. Making kids eat veggies is a big task.. This is really interesting
It sure is! 🙂
I'm not a vegetable fan but I'm sure my mumma done all of these to make sure I got enough everyday! At the day care centre I work, we've found that growing your own is also a good way to get kids involved and eating healthier !
I love the illustrations! They are the cutest ever!
Thankyou 🙂
What wonderful ideas! My children love veggies and fruits. Yay. PS. I love your illustrations.
Love this post! I like the "get kids involved" one the best. I've seen it work in real life when my kiddo was small. My aunt had my daughter help her make artichokes and gosh darn it if that child didn't eat that artichoke. LOL! She wanted to taste the fruits of her labor!
Thanks. I am glad you like it! 🙂
These are great tips! My step kids aren't very picky eaters and they will actually eat more vegetables than I will haha! The one thing they absolutely will not eat is peas!
Getting kids involved and helping out in the kitchen is the best way to get them to eat the veggies, because it'll be something they're proud of! These are awesome tips!
i agree. When Sylvia makes something she want's to eat it far more than if i give her something.
I have never had a problem with my children eating vegetables, they have their taste and they prefer certain vegetables to others, and I take their opinion into account when preparing a meal.
When I prepare vegetables I make them evident to the children, and make them appreciate the flavors too. As I have fed them vegetables since they were young babies, they are familiar to the taste and they even request the vegetables they want to eat.
Well that's great if your kids naturally love veg. Many are different and sometimes kids need encouragement.
I think getting kids involved is a great idea.
I will have to try this, looks fun