Child-friendly fruit and vegetables: in pictures

Lead by example: if you want your child to eat fruit and vegetables, make sure they see you enjoying yours every day.

Pretend that mashed potato is ‘potato glue’ that other vegetables love sticking to. Kids can dip spoons of mash into piles of other vegetables such as peas, corn and diced carrot.

Turn a simple pita bread pizza into a fun Mr Vegie face by arranging pizza toppings to make eyes, nose, mouth and ears.

Sneak more goodness into your child’s diet by hiding vegetables in favourite food. For example, add grated carrot and zucchini to bolognaise sauce.

Kids love burgers, so ‘beef up’ the patty with extra vegetables such as peas, diced celery, grated pumpkin or carrot.

Soups such as pumpkin or homemade tomato are popular with kids and full of goodness. Serve in a favourite fun mug with toast ‘soldiers’ for dunking.

Ready-cut pieces of fruit and vegetables in the lunch box are easy for kids to manage. Check bananas to make sure their tops can be broken easily. Choose mandarins that are small and have loose skin – these are easier to peel.

‘I can eat a rainbow’: for parties, make a fruit rainbow using strawberries (red), pineapple (yellow), watermelon (pink), kiwifruit (green), red grapes (purple), oranges or rockmelon (orange) and blueberries (blue). Encourage kids to try each fruit of the rainbow.

On special occasions when lollies are being served, try to combine them with healthy foods. For example, include a marshmallow on a skewer of fruit rather than offering sweets on their own.