Feb 17th, 2010
You can say that you’ll grow up as strong as Daddy or Mommy if they eat them.
Also, you could remind them of the last time they got sick. You could tell them that vegetables will keep them from getting sick.
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5 Responses to “How I Will Explain The Benefits Of Eating Vegetables To Toddlers?”
We made a poster and it is displayed at the snack bar…it uses pictures and symbols…eg:
Milk (picture of milk) makes strong bones and teeth (pictures of these) and then underneath in coloured writing it says -because it has calcium.
Fruit and Vegetables stops coughs and sneezes, makes your hair grow and skin feel soft…this is because of vitamins.
Water is our petrol-is keeps us going when we run and when we rest!
These are the three we choose to focus on as too many would be confusing. Although young the children begin to gain an awareness and will now often ask me “what does this one do” when we’re eating-I’ll ask them to look at the chart so if one holds up a carrot they say “it’s for my hair”…very cute
You can do it as a game…eg have pictures of different food and drink and pictures of the body- then ask child where they think that food or drink helps them and they match-to simply it you can make it into a kinda snap card game or lotto game!
(eg: have a board with pictures of a the food/drink and in the same box the things it helps with eg: picture of an arm musle, someone sneezing with cross through it…child match cards-and gain an awareness as you talk them through it).
Hope this helps!
Kids love stories. Try to inculcate what ever you would like to tell in the form of stories. this makes a very strong urge in them to follow the hidden rules or morals in stories.
I try this way for my daughter and whenever she eats a particular veggie, she remembers that particular story and shows more enthusiasm in having it.
Usually there isn’t much “to say” about this topic with toddlers…I would use a short phrase that could be repeated like “Healthy food, healthy bodies.” My 2 year olds like the phrase, “nutritious and delicious”. Most of what is taught about eating habits are by our example.
There really isn’t a lot you can say about the benefits of vegetables that they’ll care about or remember. As a kid, I remember hearing, “It’ll make you big and strong” or, “You’ll have strong bones.” Keep it simple, and put it in terms that they care about.
I went to my county’s health department. They loaned me a series of short videos about the “Food Groupies”, along with puppets, & various materials. I reinforced that with activities from this site:http://www.dltk-kids.com/nutrition/index…