Teaching your children good eating habits can be tough, especially with the abundance of fast food available and the constant barrage of modern marketing. A good method of helping your kids build and maintain healthy eating habits is by actually getting them involved in cooking and making their own meals.This also creates a brilliant way to bond with your children, as you work together to create delicious, healthy snacks, lunches and dinners while teaching them what goes into meal preparation.

Fruit snacks

Encouraging kids to eat enough fruit and vegetables can be tough. To help with this, you can get your little ones excited by creating and experimenting with different approaches to fruit snacks. Whether at home or in their lunch boxes while at preschool, these snacks will keep your kids full and healthy!

Apple and Sultana Wraps

A creative way to shake up a wrap. Spread cream cheese across a plain tortilla before filling it with softened apple pieces, sultanas, and a sprinkling of cinnamon. Press in a warm sandwich maker, and let your kids enjoy a delicious snack. Original image and recipe source from here.

Apple and Yoghurt Flowers

Cut up apple pieces and spread them around a plate before adding a spoonful of yoghurt and coconut sprinklings. This is definitely a meal better suited for home and can help your child to practice his or her motor skills when it comes to picking it apart. Original image and recipe source from here.

Fruity Rocket Ships

Using skewers to hold the ships together, this recipe allows you and your kids to make rocket ships. Strawberries, apples, pears, bananas and pineapples are just a few of the many fruits you can use to make some colourful creations. This is another recipe that is great for developing hand-eye coordination. Original image and recipe source from here.

Savoury snacks

Fruity snacks are only half of the battle, and getting your toddlers to eat enough vegetables is often even tougher. One of the easiest ways to solve this battle, of course, is to use dip. Whether it’s hummus or cream cheese, there are plenty of options to available. Not only will your toddler be practicing their motor skills by having to carry the dip from the bowl to their mouth on a cracker or vegetable, they’ll also become more open to trying new flavours as well as mixing and matching foods.

Hummus, Cheese and Carrot Snack Box

Often a typical lunch box snack, you can try to mix and match to suit your child’s tastes. You’ll find that some snack boxes come back full, while others will have you questioning whether or not you even put food in to begin with! Not only will this give you insight as to what flavours and mixes they like, but it also makes for a good travel snack! Original image and recipe source from here.

Magic Veggie Forest

Taking the use of dip to another level is this brilliantly creative recipe. Using avocado, cream cheese and lemon juice as the base, ‘trees’ are then cut from carrots, broccoli and celery to give this landscape some character. This recipe really appeals to the imagination of your children, allowing them to enjoy eating their veggies. Original image and recipe source from here.

Pretzel Butterflies

This is another creative recipe in the form of butterflies. Made out of pretzels, celery, cream cheese and sultanas, these little creations will bring smiles to the faces of your little ones. If the kids aren’t keen on the celery, why not swap it out for some cucumber? There are plenty of combinations and animals to be created with these foods, so go wild and let your child’s imagination run free. Original image and recipe source from here.

Make eating healthy foods fun

At the end of the day it’s all about eating healthy, which can be very hard to do sometimes. Instead of choosing highly processed foods, let your children enjoy organic creations that make eating healthy and fun. They’ll love the process, and their bodies will benefit from the wholesome goodness that comes with eating fresh and eating well. It’s a fun step towards mindful eating, which we believe at Bellamy’s Organic helps to instil healthy mindful food choices, setting your baby off on the path to healthy mindful eating so that they continue to grow into healthy, happy children and adults.