CBeebies Vegie Rap
CBeebies hosts Robbie and Duncan sing a funky rap to help kids learn about different vegetables and how yummy they can be. Eating vegies can be fun!
As any parent knows, getting kids to eat their vegies can be a real battle of wills. But by injecting some fun into the vegetable experience, you might just get your little ones munching on their greens after all.
Here are some ways to encourage your child to eat up and actually enjoy their vegetable experiences.
- Make up songs or poems about different vegetables together. Watch The CBeebies Vegie Rap (above) with presenters Robbie and Duncan as an example and to give you some ideas.
- Create fun activities around vegetables and being out in the garden together. For ideas, check out this video from the brand new CBeebies TV program Mr Bloom’s Nursery, which shows how to make a fun little cresshead character.
- Grow your own vegetables. Whether you have space for a full backyard garden or can only squeeze in a windowbox for lettuce, your child will enjoy watching the vegies grow and then picking them, and may be more likely to eat them at the end of the process. (You can also get her to decorate her own vegie patch sign - you can start by downloading and printing this poster.)
- Visit farmer’s markets to choose vegetables together. Markets are more fun than the supermarket, and often offer activities such as face painting for the kids.
- Ask your child to help you prepare vegetables for meals. Even young children can wash or scrub potatoes, and older kids can help cut, mash or measure. Many parents find that if their child has helped make the meal, they’re usually more likely to eat it.
- Familiarise your child with the vegetable before serving it up - if the first time he sees a Brussels sprout it’s already cooked and on his plate, chances are he’ll be apprehensive about trying it. Prepare him by showing it to him beforehand, and by having a play with it together – let him feel the vegetable, smell it, and even encourage him to lick it. Then he may actually give it a try at dinnertime!
- Persevere, persevere, persevere. What they say is true: it can take a multitude of tries (some experts say up to 20!) for children to eat a new food placed in front of them. So take heart – your little one may refuse it the first 10 times, but success might come soon after.
- Implement the ‘no thank you bite’. Using this rule, parents expect their children to take at least one bite of every food they’re served up. After this bite, the child doesn’t have to have any more. While some children won’t have any more after that bite, others might eat on … and at least they’ve tried it!
- Nurture a child’s natural curiosity through vegie guessing games. Show them a few kinds of seeds (such as pumpkin seeds, pea seeds and onion bulbs) and help them guess what they’ll grow into. You can also visit Mr Bloom's Nursery's website together - it offers lots of fun and interesting vegie-related games for kids.
- The new program Mr Bloom’s Nursery on kids TV channel CBeebies encourages children to nurture and enjoy vegetables in a fun way. Mr Bloom is a gardener with a colourful garden, and when he adds the magic compost, the vegie patch comes to life with characters including Joan the Fennel and Colin the Runner Bean. Mr Bloom’s Nursery, 5pm weekdays, on CBeebies. Channel 705, exclusive to Foxtel and Austar.
