Nesbug NaturalsHelp Your Kids Learn to Love Healthy Foods!
School life is very busy and often stressful for our children. I used to see this in my daughter. Caring parents love to use vacation periods like the summer holidays to help their children recuperate and regain their strength.
Never underestimate the value of the special attention you give to your children during these special times of the year. If this extra parental nourishment doesn’t happen year after year, a child may get so tired that he becomes “broken” and weary with life. They may lose the strength to resist negative influences and pressures. They may become discouraged feeling a lack of family support. In the end they may enter a path of self destruction. Sadly, many young ones are heading down that road these days.
So how can you help your children regain their strength and continue to grow in a positive direction? I know it might sound simplistic, but here is one great way: Help Your Kids Learn to Love Healthy Foods!
Benefits of Healthy Foods for Kids
Many families have found that doing this breeds more peaceful children and less behavioral problems. Aggressive or irritable children can change into peaceful little lambs when they begin to eat more healthfully. They will feel so much more at peace when they stop eating the prepacked, preservative ridden, artificially colored junk that fills the majority of the supermarket aisles.
I once cared for a family of children after school each day. They were often irritable. They fought with each other a lot. I began to think a lack of nourishment could be part of the issue. Their after school snack often consisted of various types of spreads on slices of white bread. I began to think maybe they were irritable and hangry, because this type of snack lacks nutrients. So after consulting with the parents, I started bringing more whole foods to the home. Sometimes we enjoyed eating fresh fruit in season straight from the farm. We made pumpkin soup. On some occasions we baked potatoes for afternoon tea. Popcorn for movie afternoon was a favorite. Their behaviours were so much better when they ate these types of foods. And these kids loved the healthy foods.
More and more children are having weight issues which is a growing concern for many parents. A healthy plant-based diet can help a child maintain a healthy weight. There are many tastier and healthier options for parents and children to enjoy. But first we have to get the kids to want to choose the healthier options.
How You can Help your Kids Learn to Love Healthy Food
Ensure different types of fruit are readily available around the home. Encourage them to drink water as their staple drink. There are ‘special’ healthy drinks to enjoy. But water is the main drink we want to encourage our children to drink. Make it readily available for them to enjoy. Also check out my post on How to Drink Water on a Plant Based Diet.
Carers and children can make homemade granola type snack bars with plant-based ingredients from scratch. These goodies won’t have the preservatives or artificial colorings that many store bought products have. There are so many extra nutrients and fibre in these types of delicious homemade snacks. So the children will actually feel full.
A Special Note About Kids and Allergies – Some children are allergic to nut and seeds. Talk to a qualified medical or healthcare practitioner about possible allergic reactions of any new foods you introduce to your child’s diet.
Activities To Help Your Kids Love Healthy Foods
Make a Scrapbook of Healthy Food Recipes
Learn to make healthy plant-based recipes together as a family. There are lots of great vegan and plant-based recipes and tutorials on the internet. Make a scrap book page of each recipe you have tried. Overtime you can compile all the recipes into a personalized scrap book of your family’s favorite plant-based recipes.
If you make a certain time each week to do this, it builds anticipation and it’s a family time the children will look forward to and remember with joy. My adult daughter still remembers having a good time when she and I made gnocci together. So never underestimate the value of taking time out to create special memories with your children. This is especially important when it comes to spending time together preparing healthy plant-based meals.
I have some good recipes you might like to try. I will share one with you soon. There are some great recipes that only require 3-5 ingredients.
Go on Hikes and Picnics with Healthy Foods
Go out for a hike or a picnic. Stop by the grocery store on your way. Pick up lots of healthy plant-based foods to fill a picnic basket or cooler. I enjoyed doing this with my Dad a few times in my youth. But the food items we got weren’t really plant-based. Still, it was a lot of fun for my brothers and me.
Activities like this build family connection and love. When the foods are whole food plant-based and the family is hanging together, the children will be healthier and feel a special joy they will always remember. They will learn you don’t have to eat junk food to have fun. Healthy snacks are even better!
Make Healthy Homemade Beverages
Choose to drink homemade lemonade and fruit smoothies over carbonated soda drinks. Children can learn to enjoy and make so many varieties of plant-based drinks and smoothies.
Soft drinks, fruit juice (no fiber), and other drinks that are heavily laden with unhealthy sugars and unnatural preservatives, may cause depression, diabetes, and behavior problems in children and young adults. I really encourage you to do the research on why these types of drinks are the cause of so many health problems. Share these facts with your kids.
Of course, as noted earlier, the best daily drink for children is good old fashioned natural water. Be sure to check out this article on how we can get the most benefits for our health when drinking water.
Talk about Healthy Foods with Your Kids
From the day they are born encourage your young ones to really enjoy eating healthfully. Do this even when the family is out and about enjoying recreational activities. As they get older keep the conversation going. Talk with them about the reasons it’s important to include more plant foods in our diet. Before you know it, they will be telling you about better options you could be choosing as a family.
Share the results of your nutritional research with your kids. When they understand the principles behind eating a healthy plant-based diet they may end up being the ones motivating you!
Grow Fruit Trees with Your Young Ones
Plant a fruit tree or vine in your garden or backyard and watch how it grows over the next year. Grow a type of fruit that is suited to your climate. Take a picture of the sapling. Involve the children in the whole process of planting and caring for the plant over the next year.
This time next year everyone will be amazed at the plant’s growth. Imagine how happy the children will be a couple of years later, when they can enjoy the fruits of their labor. This is a skill and interest they can take with them into adulthood, even when you are not around.
And best of all, the children will be learning to love healthy foods for kids!
