Like 99% of parents, I struggled to get my kids to eat their veggies. When my daughter was two, she ate everything. By the time she was five, her plate was white. How could it be that she loved broccoli one week, and hated it the next? Desperate for a solution, I turned to the one thing I knew how to do – make it fun!

Kids naturally want to play – it’s how they learn. So take their lead and try these playful dinner ideas for making mealtime fun and ending battles over broccoli.

1. Dinner Improv. Start with the youngest person at the table. The first player starts the story, and each player builds on by adding a sentence or two.  Play continues clockwise around the table for as many rounds as your story can support. For example, the first player says, “On a dark, blustery winter day I heard a knock at our door.” The next player adds, “I peeked out the window and spotted a giant hippopotamus!” And so on.
2. Tomato. Decide who is going to be “It!” Players take turns asking questions to whomever is “It”. Every answer has to end with the word “Tomato.” For example, a player asks, “What do you wash your hair with?”  The person who is “It” answers, “Tomato!” The first person to make “It” laugh wins a turn at being “It!”
3. Crunch a Color™. Created out of my own need to make dinner fun and healthy, Crunch a Color™ is a mealtime game that makes eating a balanced meal fun. Kids earn points for eating servings of veggies, fruits, proteins and grains. Bonus points for good manners and trying new foods. Some kids like collecting the veggie friends, others love racking up points — but at its core Crunch a Color™ works because it makes mealtime fun and it empowers kids to make healthy choices for themselves. In a playful way, kids are rewarded for eating a balanced meal and trying new foods while learning about meal composition, portion control, and table manners. The game also encourages families to cook, share and enjoy healthy foods together – an important part of how we’ll win the fight against childhood obesity. Profits support non-profit children’s nutrition programs, including Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, FoodCorps, and Alice Waters’ Edible Schoolyard.

But don’t let me tell you what to do. Take it from my kids. Listen to them tell the story of how they went from being picky eaters to healthy eaters by making mealtime fun.

Cookies, sugar-coated cereal, candy bars – these unhealthy treats always seem to be positioned at perfect eye level for a toddler. If grocery shopping with your kids is regular exercise in blocking and tackling corn syrup-infused confections, you are not alone. Most parents struggle with this challenge each visit to the store. To make shopping fun and healthy, try these strategies for successful grocery shopping with your little ones:

1. Five colors in the cart. Next time you head to the market with your kids, challenge them to fill the cart with five different colors. You’ll be amazed to see the change in perspective as they race around the produce aisle looking for colorful foods to add. For a list of healthy foods by color, check out the free Crunch a Color™ food chart.
2. Pick a new food each week.  Of the colors they pick for the cart, encourage them to choose one new food to try each week. Posing this challenge to your kids puts them in control of making nutritious choices for themselves. They don’t have to love it, but it’s great for them to try it. Research suggests it can take up to ten times of trying a new food before a child likes it.
3. If you can’t read the label, leave it on the shelf. My five year old is just learning to read. When he picked up a box of cookies the other day I challenged, “If you can read what’s on the label we can add it to our cart.” Luckily Malodextrin was a mouthful for my little shopper so the box of cookies stayed on the shelf. Said another way: if you don’t know where the food came from, don’t eat it.
4. Shop farmers’ markets. In winter months this may be a challenge, but whenever possible seek out fresh markets where your kids (and you) can meet farmers and buy fresh, local organic fruits and veggies. Connecting with the people who grow your food is a wonderful way to teach your kids about what is healthy for them – and farmers have great ideas for how to prepare their bounty. Local Harvest is a fantastic interactive online map for finding farmers markets, family farms, and sustainably grown food in your area.

My children love the holidays. They are giddy with the sounds, sights, and smells of the season. Like many parents, the holidays are a time to share treasured traditions through cooking, baking and eating! But a full calendar of holiday celebrations can quickly add up to a less than healthy holiday menu. As adults, it’s not uncommon to put on an extra pound or two between Thanksgiving and New Year’s by overeating and under-exercising. For kids, the combination of sugary treats, late nights visiting with friends and family, and less time for active outdoor play can be a recipe for an unhealthy start to the New Year.

Keeping the holidays healthy for you and your kids is easy with just a few small changes. Here are five simple steps you can take to make the holidays healthy and happy this year!

1) Slow down– Back-to-back parties can run kids (and parents) ragged. Space out parties! Plan for a rest day in-between big events to allow little bodies to recover. If you’re visiting family, and getting away from the group is tough, plan for an activity that connects the kids back to nature like a hike or sledding.

2) Play each day– Schedule time each day to get out and play! On mild days, ride bikes to the park. On rainy days, try a family game of hoops at the gym. If time is working against you, crank up the tunes and have a dance party in your living room. Just get moving!

3) Health up holiday meals– Offer a couple of healthy options at each holiday meal. Steamed veggies, like green beans or broccoli, are beautiful on their own and make a colorful complement to a holiday table.

4) Balance your day– If you’re heading off to a big family dinner, plan for lighter fare earlier in the day. Sprinkle a dash of cinnamon on yogurt parfaits to infuse a little holiday flavor into your breakfast. Homemade, hearty chicken noodle soup can make for a veggie packed, lighter lunch option.

5) Go for H2O– Put out a pitcher of water on your kitchen table so kids can easily help themselves throughout the day. Remind kids (and yourself) to fill ‘er up.

Like Michael Pollan says, “Break the rules once in a while.” But if you can enjoy holiday festivities and incorporate a few of these healthy tips into your celebrations you’re sure to start out the New Year on a healthy note.

Convenience, cost, and taste are why Americans choose fast food. Fast food consumption has increased dramatically – up 5x since the 1970s, and now 1 in 3 children eat fast food daily, according to a study in Pediatrics. Fast food is clearly meeting a need. Parents are busy. Budgets are tight. Families need quick, convenient low-cost food options, and fast food delivers. So I say, “Go ahead, eat fast food!” – but with a caveat.

What if wholesome, nutritious, healthy foods were fast? What if you could prepare a healthy meal in less time than it takes to drive to McDonald’s and order a Big Mac? I’m a busy mom just like you. Most nights I’m lucky if I have 15 minutes of uninterrupted time to prepare a healthy meal. If it’s going to make it in our house, it needs to be fast AND healthy. Instead of fighting the tide, I decided to assemble a no-fail list of healthy, fast foods. Foods that I can prepare and cook in a matter of minutes, and are guaranteed to be home runs at our family table.

My current favorite is kale chips. They are an easy, healthy fast food that your kids are sure to enjoy (their nutty flavor is akin to seaweed).  Start with a fresh bunch of dark green kale – preferably lacinto (“dino”) kale.  Bonus: They are easy enough for a 5 year old to prepare, which wins them more points in my book. This is the kind of fast food I can get into.

Prep time: 5 minutes Cook time: about 15 minutes

1. Preheat oven to 250°F
2. Wash kale.  Peel or cut leaves from center stalk. Chop into medium size pieces. Pat dry.
3. Toss in 1Tbsp of olive oil. Sprinkle with salt.
4. Arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet.
5. Bake about 15 minutes, or until crisp. Cool then serve.

Fruits and veggies may not beat fast food on cost, but they can definitely compete on speed. Healthy food can be fast food too! For more ideas and a free set of printable healthy, fast food recipes your kids can cook visit www.crunchacolor.com/pages/printables.

Family dinner is one of the best ways to keep our kids healthy.  Children who eat dinner with their families more than five times a week (along with good sleep and limited TV watching) are 40% less likely to be obese, according to a study in Pediatrics. More good news: the number of families eating together is increasing. 59% of families report eating dinner together at least five times a week, up from 47% in 1998.

Those numbers are compelling, but if you’re like me, it’s a monumental challenge to slow down enough to enjoy a peaceful conversation as a family over a healthy meal together. More often than not, Mom is rushing around the kitchen, kids are pit-stopping at the table for what feels like 30 seconds, there are constant negotiations about what they “have to eat”, and no time for conversation about the day. Lucky if Dad makes it home before bedtime. Not the perfect picture of quality family time at the dinner table.

Sometimes a small change can make a big difference. Whether both parents can make it home or not, commit to a regular dinnertime, serve your meal and sit together. Pause. Then start with a question (one that doesn’t require yes or no as an answer!). Posing open-ended questions is something that works really well for my kids. They bubble with excitement when asked about their perspective and theories instead of the conversation stopper, “How was your day?”. In a time when kids are bombarded with facts, and drilled to deliver the “right answer” on tests at school, it’s a welcome change to simply enjoy the journey of exploring an idea.

Here are a few questions to get you started. Follow each answer with another question. Remember: there’s no “correct” answer. The objective is to generate conversation and more questions!

1. If you could pick a character from one of your favorite books to have dinner with, who would it be and why? What would you serve?
2. If tomatoes are considered fruits because they have seeds, why is a banana a fruit? Why is a cucumber a vegetable? How would you find the answer (and you can’t use Google)?
3. If you had a free ticket to go anywhere in the world, where would you go? How would you choose to get there?

For more ideas and a free set of printable dinner conversation starter cards visit www.crunchacolor.com/pages/printables. Enjoy the conversation!