You already know enforcing healthy eating doesn’t work.
It can be hard to counter all that sugary goodness when it’s everywhere, tastes oh so yummy, and generally takes less work than making healthy meals from scratch, right?
So let’s get their attention first, shall we?
How about 3 challenges, covering different ages and abilities, to turn a lesson of healthy eating into a memorable family-bonding game?
You can repeat these challenges as often as you want as you deepen their knowledge base.
They’ll have a blast, learn as they go (with a lesson that will stick because they’ll teach themselves), and you can give yourself a pat on the back for being the “fun mom” instead of the bad guy 😉
what should i teach my kids about healthy eating?
Most importantly, your kids need to know WHY healthy eating is a better choice so they can be empowered to choose for themselves.
That takes motivation, knowledge, and self-discipline. Sounds like a tall order, doesn’t it?
Let’s start with baby steps: knowledge of what healthy eating is and isn’t.
Keeping the topics simple, I recommend:
- Daily sugar intake
- How to read nutrition labels
- Healthier alternatives to pre-packaged options (and how to make their favourites from scratch)
- What is a healthy amount of which foods to put on their plate
Check out my post “7 Destructive Eating Habits” to get the basics, but if you’re looking for a resource that will give you everything you need at your fingertips, you’ll want my Healthy Kids Bundle.
healthy eating challenge for beginners: teddy bear picnic
Okay, first up for the younger kids: a scavenger hunt to teach portions and healthy food groups.
They’ll need to grab:
- Dolls & stuffies
- Picnic blanket
- Plates, Cups, Utensils, etc.
- Cute basket to pack everything
As they’re setting up, you’ll explain that they’re in charge of planning a healthy picnic for their teddy. Because they love [insert stuffie’s name here], they want them to be the healthiest ever so they stay strong and happy.
Give them their food scavenger hunt list (free for download at the end of this post) – your kiddos are in charge of packing their picnic basket with healthy choices in the fridge and pantry. You might need to strategically rearrange your fridge so the eggs are rather hidden 😉
They can find healthy food that will fit the food group requirements:
They’ll need to grab more fruits and veggies than anything else because these help their teddy have lots of energy to play with them.
They’ll need a little bit of protein. This helps their teddy’s insides be strong and healthy so they can give super big hugs.
They’ll have a bit of brown bread to help their tummies feel good.
Finally, if they want a dessert (“if”, haha), they’ll need to make sure it’s a little piece without too much sugar to keep Teddy’s heart healthy and his energy up so it will want to play after instead of taking a nap!
If you’re short on time or just want to reinforce the fun during your Activity Station or quiet time, consider this printable version of the game from the Healthy Kids Bundle.
Now your kids have learned in a very fun & low-maintenance way how to plan healthy eating – points for you!
healthy eating challenge for intermediate: mission: possible lunch
This age group is where most of my kids are at. They can do basics in the kitchen, such as cutting vegetables safely (click here for a free mini knife safety video to get started).
They can handle prepping a simple lunch themselves (whether packing one for school or making one at home).
Now it’s their turn for a no-adults allowed Mission: Possible lunch challenge.
Their mission: to prepare a healthy lunch for the family, but meet the challenges on the challenge card at the end of this post.
Your food group and portion lesson are covered (they teach themselves so it’ll be remembered a teensy bit more than if you had just told them…sigh).
They’ll have an introduction to reading labels and sugar.
My kids watched this video to learn how to read nutritional labels before they began. There are always brownie points for a visual lesson and I learned a thing or two as well!
You get to sit down, put your feet up, and give yourself permission for some downtime – everybody wins!
healthy eating challenge for older kids: master chef competition
This one’s so much fun. If you have older, self-sufficient kids, they can take this challenge up on their own.
You could team up with your little sous-chefs and your intermediates to form a team.
Perfect for the weekend, this challenge will encourage family bonding, great memories, and independent cooking life skills your kids will take with them into adulthood.
The main goal is to create the best supper with a specific theme. You can make “healthy” the theme or you can have fun and change up the themes every time – you’d just have a healthy rule.
What prizes will you have? Who gets to pick the movie for movie night? The rights to pick a new board game? What’s a valuable prize in your family?
Now it gets super challenging. Everyone has to do their homework and prep beforehand to meet the requirements:
- Checking the ingredients.
- Avoiding hidden sources of sugar.
- Meal planning
- Grocery shopping and budgeting skills.
You could even go out and encourage creativity by making the best gluten or dairy-free meal – even if you have no allergies in your family, it’s great to have one or two recipes on hand for when you host someone who does.
If you’re on a budget, try a vegetarian meal – meat can be crazy expensive these days.
I’ve included a section in the challenge card for “cost per person” so you can include some budgeting lessons in your meal planning.
There are so many ways to adapt this so you can have bazillions of competitions that teach different skills – you can change it up as often as you want.
Challenges are a fantastic way to teach…without your kids knowing about it 😉 They’re teaching themselves and having fun at the same time!
read more:
- 7 destructive eating habits we’re teaching our kids
- 5 kitchen skills your kids can learn today
- Snacks (and lessons) that teach about God’s love
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