Veg Pledge 2020
Take Your Veg Pledge For 2020
This year, amid the pandemic, the veg pledge is even more important—especially as statistics show that 80% of our kids are not eating enough vegetables.
This blog will bring you up to date with all the best ways to up your veggie intake and reinforce positive eating habits in your little ones.
Cultivating kids
Being up to speed with sensible food choices is key. Research tells us that good diet enables our bodies to fight infections. We should all, therefore, consume a varied diet full of vitamins and vegetables are an excellent way of getting these nutrients into our body.
The recommendation for optimal health is 5-7 portions a day, and as “portion size” for children varies as they grow—a good rule of thumb is to assess their portion size by what would fit in the palm of your child’s hand.
Healthy habits
Across the nation, a staggering 38% of children are predicted to leave primary school overweight or obese by 2024, according to Public Health England. So, how can we reinforce healthy habits at home? Montessori Toys learning proves that education can start with play. This means we can emphasize positive eating habits from a really young age just by having fun with food!
A top tip is to allow your kids to explore the world of food, whether that be through cooking, growing, or eating. Involving your children in cooking time can extend further than just cakes & cookies. Why not try mashing up swede together, or squishing tomatoes in a bowl? You can also explore the different sounds that foods make by crushing crackers or crunching apples!
Growing your own is another fantastic way to build your child’s relationship with food. You can grow cress seeds on just a piece of kitchen roll on a sunny windowsill & then progress this to a small pot of herbs. The sense of achievement kids feel when they have contributed to their own dinner is so vital in growing food-friendly relationships.
Play & learn
If you have pretend play food, this is a great start. Use the food toys to teach them about eating seasonally. You can make this into a fun activity by laying out the fruit n’ veg toys alongside the season they are grown in. You can download our spring, summer, autumn, and winter colouring-in sheets for FREE!
Go around a sort all the fruit n veg into the right category. You can do it once together and then ramp things up by offering a fun incentive for your kids to do it alone or in a certain amount of time. Eating seasonal veg is more environmentally friendly, cheaper and better for your family—so it’s well worth your time.
Once you’ve piqued their interest, you can encourage this by teaching them food groups. Sorting your food toys into group helps them understand the differences & brings the topic of food into their world of exploration.
Check out our top food toys today and get started with your veg pledge this year!
