By Cherie Chu, MD DipABLM
Turning healthful eating into a fun game can make a world of difference in how children see it. We recommend eating a diversity of plants for optimal gut health and playing the Eat the Rainbow game is an excellent way to do this. Imagine going from begging your kids to eat their vegetables to them asking you for broccoli so they can win the Eat the Rainbow game. Here are 3 fun ways to Eat the Rainbow.
1. Play the Eat the Rainbow game.Challenge your kids to eat at least one food from each color of the rainbow each day (or each week if this is a challenge). Have them look at the list and mark off each color on the Eat the Rainbow Tracker.
2. Make a rainbow smoothie together. Let your kids pick out which fruits and vegetables they would like to use for each layer. They are more likely to taste it if they helped make it.
3. Play the Eat the Rainbow Bingo game. The first person to get five squares in a row is the winner.
Mealtime doesn't have to be a drag. Play the Eat the Rainbow game this week to make meals both colorful and fun!
Check out Dr. Chu’sFamily Wellness Toolkit for printable versions of the Eat the Rainbow games.
Cherie Chu, MD DipABLM, is a board-certified pediatrician and a certified diplomate of lifestyle medicine. She is passionate about helping children learn healthy lifestyle habits because of the immeasurable benefits of doing so in childhood and beyond.
Dr. Chu is the founder of Wellness Pediatrician, an educational website dedicated to wellness in children through lifestyle medicine. She currently practices outpatient general pediatrics in San Diego where she incorporates her knowledge of lifestyle medicine into her daily interactions with her pediatric patients and their families. She is also the mother of twins and credits her children as being her greatest teachers.
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