Nutrition

3 Ways to Eat the Rainbow & Make Meals Fun

3 Ways to Eat the Rainbow & Make Meals Fun

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.

 

children's health, children's nutrition, family fun
children's health, children's nutrition, family fun

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 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. 

children's health, children's nutrition, family fun

3. Play the Eat the Rainbow Bingo game. The first person to get five squares in a row is the winner. 

children's health, children's nutrition, family fun

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’s Family 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.

 

RELATED BLOGS:

8 Ways to Live More Sustainably

Transitioning to a plant-based diet: How to slowly eliminate ground meat in a recipe

5 Ways to Teach Independence with Mealtime

Top 5 Healthy Habits to Teach Your Kids 

Physical Activity for Kids: Why and How?

6 Ways to Eliminate Harmful Chemicals From Your Daily Routine 

How Plastic is Affecting Your Child's Health & What You Can Do About It

Celebrating Women's History Month with the Journey of Motherhood

Reading next

children's health, healthy habits
What is Black, uplift black voices

Leave a comment

All comments are moderated before being published.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

*This website has been developed by Ahimsa LLC. This site offers health and nutritional information and is designed for educational purposes only. While many of our experts are practicing clinicians, viewing this site, receipt of information contained on this site or the transmission of information from or to this site does not constitute a physician-patient relationship. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment, and does not constitute medical or other professional advice. Any information provided is not meant to address a specific situation, person or event, even if you provide information about a specific person or situation to Ahimsa. Always seek the advice of your child’s own physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking it because of something you have read on this site. Please click here for more information on our disclaimer. Effective Date: October 7, 2019, Updated 6/17/2021. © 2023 Ahimsa LLC, All Rights Reserved