Comments on: Get Your Kids to Eat Vegetables http://kidscuisine.net/2007/05/28/get-your-kids-to-eat-vegetables/ Cooking for Kids, Cooking with Kids. Thu, 21 Aug 2008 22:37:15 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.4 by: Amanda http://kidscuisine.net/2007/05/28/get-your-kids-to-eat-vegetables/#comment-2179 Wed, 30 May 2007 09:35:34 +0000 http://kidscuisine.net/2007/05/28/get-your-kids-to-eat-vegetables/#comment-2179 Very interesting post. When my children were babies, before they'd weaned onto solids I would let them touch and feel fruit and veg while I was preparing lunch/dinner. I also used to pierce the skin of fruit/veg to release the scent more too. This way it was getting to most of their senses so when it came to them trying these foods later on the only new thing was taste. This way seemed to work as they both absolutely love fruit and veg, particularly raw. Also re: Lazy Town. They call fruit - sports candy. I know friends of my children who have been turned around to liking fruit because of the name sports candy and the association of it being sporty and a sweet. Great idea! Very interesting post. When my children were babies, before they’d weaned onto solids I would let them touch and feel fruit and veg while I was preparing lunch/dinner. I also used to pierce the skin of fruit/veg to release the scent more too. This way it was getting to most of their senses so when it came to them trying these foods later on the only new thing was taste. This way seemed to work as they both absolutely love fruit and veg, particularly raw. Also re: Lazy Town. They call fruit - sports candy. I know friends of my children who have been turned around to liking fruit because of the name sports candy and the association of it being sporty and a sweet. Great idea!

]]> by: David Goldbeck http://kidscuisine.net/2007/05/28/get-your-kids-to-eat-vegetables/#comment-2167 Tue, 29 May 2007 18:22:34 +0000 http://kidscuisine.net/2007/05/28/get-your-kids-to-eat-vegetables/#comment-2167 New Slant on Getting Kids to Eat Fruits and Vegetables By David Goldbeck Co-author, The ABC’s of Fruits and Vegetables and Beyond: Delicious Alphabet Poems Plus Food, Facts, and Fun for Everyone Everyone knows that if you want kids to learn things without resistance – languages for example - start them young. They same goes for eating habits. If parents want kids to have a positive attitude towards fruits and vegetables, it is time for a new approach. Certainly the “eat your vegetables, they’re good for you” scolding hasn’t worked. What will work is introducing these foods early in life and in new contexts in order to develop an easy-going relationship with them. Several years ago, I decided to write such a book based on the alphabet. I resolved that if I could find something for the letter “X” the project would go forth. (You’ll have to read the book to see what I found.) The result is The ABC’s of Fruits and Vegetables and Beyond: Delicious Alphabet Poems Plus Food, Facts, and Fun for Everyone (Ceres Press, $16.95). The book is unusual in many ways: First, I wanted an alphabet book so kids’ first words – their “ABCs” – would not be “B is for ball” and “T is for truck,” but for “banana” and “tomato.” Steve Charney filled the bill with clever and zany alphabet poems. A noted children's entertainer, author and literacy promoter, Charney brought the same genius to the poems as in the songs he wrote for “The Bear in the Big Blue House,” Jim Henson's Emmy-nominated show. I have to say, I fantasize about toddlers being fed while they (and their parents) recite: C is for the carrots/That rabbits like to munch. They eat them 'cause they love the taste – Me…I like the crunch The second part, Beyond the ABC’s, which I was responsible for, takes kids to a delightful mixture of food lore, recipes, jokes, tongue twisters, unusual facts, shopping tips, recipes, and other fun- and thought-provoking activities. Children also discover where many fruits and vegetables come from, learn some Spanish words, and are directed to related books and websites. The goal is for them to translate their new knowledge into willful eating. After all who can resist Z is for zucchini/A word to flabbergast/Zucchini with linguini"-- try to say that ten times fast! Children’s nutrition expert, Fern Gale Estrow, MS, RD, CDN summed up The ABC’s of Fruits and Vegetables and Beyond when she wrote: Charney and Goldbeck’s wonderful book of poems and activities will appeal to children as they move through elementary school, exploring food and farming using the alphabet to establish their place in history, geography, art, literature, science, the kitchen, and let us not forget jokes and riddles! Even adults will laugh and learn at least a fact or two – and maybe each of us (young and old) will find an interest in trying something new! (c) cp New Slant on Getting Kids to Eat Fruits and Vegetables

By David Goldbeck

Co-author, The ABC’s of Fruits and Vegetables and Beyond: Delicious Alphabet Poems Plus Food, Facts, and Fun for Everyone

Everyone knows that if you want kids to learn things without resistance – languages for example - start them young. They same goes for eating habits. If parents want kids to have a positive attitude towards fruits and vegetables, it is time for a new approach. Certainly the “eat your vegetables, they’re good for you” scolding hasn’t worked. What will work is introducing these foods early in life and in new contexts in order to develop an easy-going relationship with them.

Several years ago, I decided to write such a book based on the alphabet. I resolved that if I could find something for the letter “X” the project would go forth. (You’ll have to read the book to see what I found.) The result is The ABC’s of Fruits and Vegetables and Beyond: Delicious Alphabet Poems Plus Food, Facts, and Fun for Everyone (Ceres Press, $16.95).

The book is unusual in many ways: First, I wanted an alphabet book so kids’ first words – their “ABCs” – would not be “B is for ball” and “T is for truck,” but for “banana” and “tomato.” Steve Charney filled the bill with clever and zany alphabet poems. A noted children’s entertainer, author and literacy promoter, Charney brought the same genius to the poems as in the songs he wrote for “The Bear in the Big Blue House,” Jim Henson’s Emmy-nominated show. I have to say, I fantasize about toddlers being fed while they (and their parents) recite: C is for the carrots/That rabbits like to munch. They eat them ’cause they love the taste – Me…I like the crunch

The second part, Beyond the ABC’s, which I was responsible for, takes kids to a delightful mixture of food lore, recipes, jokes, tongue twisters, unusual facts, shopping tips, recipes, and other fun- and thought-provoking activities. Children also discover where many fruits and vegetables come from, learn some Spanish words, and are directed to related books and websites. The goal is for them to translate their new knowledge into willful eating. After all who can resist Z is for zucchini/A word to flabbergast/Zucchini with linguini”– try to say that ten times fast!

Children’s nutrition expert, Fern Gale Estrow, MS, RD, CDN summed up The ABC’s of Fruits and Vegetables and Beyond when she wrote:

Charney and Goldbeck’s wonderful book of poems and activities will appeal to children as they move through elementary school, exploring food and farming using the alphabet to establish their place in history, geography, art, literature, science, the kitchen, and let us not forget jokes and riddles! Even adults will laugh and learn at least a fact or two – and maybe each of us (young and old) will find an interest in trying something new!

(c) cp

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