Great Resources for Kids of Any Age
The biggest challenge to eating healthy, for many families, is not finding a local source for meat, or learning to soak grains, but trying to get the little ones on board, especially if it is a big change from how they had been eating. With my oldest, now almost 15 (What? Did I just say 15? Oh my word…), it was a challenge when we began eating healthier. He was about 5 when this all began, and to make matters harder, we went through a few different nutritional “theories” as we researched our way to where we are now. With my youngest, it is much easier, as she has been presented with healthy food all of her life. However, she is not immune to the influences of the world, and so it’s not always smooth sailing. Here are some great resources to help.
Teaching About the Tongue – Elementary and Younger
I was surprised by how much this impacted my five year old! This cute little computer game teaches you about your taste buds on the tongue, and how we lose them as we get older. This can help you explain to your kids why they may begin to like food that they didn’t like previously, and encourage them to try things again and again.
“They” say that kids need to try something 15-20 times before they can determine that they like it. And kids’ palates change all the time. Don’t give up!
Books About Fruits and Veggies – Elementary and Younger
Eating the Alphabet: Fruits & Vegetables from A to Z
Planting a Rainbow
The ABCs of Fruits and Vegetables and Beyond 
Also check out this Frugal Granola post on kids’ gardening books. We are loving Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots
(By the way, did you know that April 18 – 24 is Screen-Free Week? While we’re talking about kids and nature, you might also want to check out this Simple Granola post for inspiration on going screen-free.)
A Book for Tweens & Teens
The Omnivore’s Dilemma for Kids
(And consider the screen-free challenge above!)
Kids – Of Any Age – Do Like Vegetables!
Check out this post from Food With Kid Appeal about her work trying to transform one elementary school full of kids into healthy eaters. She presents lots of good tips for helping your kids make the connection between what they put into their bodies, and how well their bodies and brains work. And if your child is (or you are!) a picky eater, check out her series on Recovering Picky Eaters. Make sure to visit the link about how mindset colors food choices, and the danger of the ‘picky eater’ label.
Anecdotally, I can tell you that when my teenage son has his friends over and I have out carrot sticks, cherry tomatoes, cut-up apples, etc., they all stand around and munch on them. The bonus: they talk to us while they’re munching. I’m sure these are not the snacks they would request. But they do like them!
For Visual Learners – Any Age
The site SugarStacks.com shows you what the sugar content of certain foods looks like, using 4-gram sugar cubes. Very eye-opening!
Class for Tweens and Teens
I’ve recommended this before, but I need to make another mention of the Real Food Nutrition & Health E-Course (and related text book) that my son and I are going through. We are going through at our own pace (read: we are sloooooow) but we are both learning so much. And no, Noah’s taste for candy and junk food hasn’t magically disappeared. But I have seen changes in him (such as how he happily drinks raw milk now, when it used to freak him out, and he claims he never wants to have conventional milk again!) and we’ve had great discussions. I cannot recommend it highly enough. It’s multi-media and very interesting.
Children with ADHD (or Other Chronic Issues)
Visit the Feingold Association for free information on how food additives affect these conditions, and baby-step changes to make. Also look out for a future post on the GAPS diet.
Do you have any resources to share?
Speaking of kids…
If your kids are car seat age/ size (which is shorter than 4′ 9″ and less than 80-100 pounds), please check out this great pictorial on car seat safety (my daughter’s straps were incorrect!). Also make sure to sign up to receive the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s recall notices for infant & child products.
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I had to add one more! I loved this ideas in this Frugal Granola post, Taking the Classroom Outside:
http://frugalgranola.com/2011/04/taking-the-classroom-outside/
OK, here’s another. See here for a review (and giveaway!) of The Whole Family Cookbook: http://foodwithkidappeal.blogspot.com/2011/04/baked-apple-puff-recipe-whole-family.html. Looks great!