Child-friendly fruit and vegetables: in pictures

Lead by example: if you want your child to eat fruit and vegetables, make sure she sees you enjoying your fruit and vegetables every day too.

Make mealtimes fun. Pretend that mashed potato is ‘potato glue’ that other vegetables love sticking to. Kids can dip spoons of mash into piles of other vegetables like 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.

Add more goodness to your child’s diet by adding vegies to favourite foods. For example, add grated carrot and zucchini to bolognaise sauce.

Kids love burgers, so ‘beef up’ the patty with extra vegetables like peas, corn, diced celery, finely chopped broccoli, or grated pumpkin or carrot.

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

Diced fruit and vegetables 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’: make a fruit rainbow using strawberries, pineapple, watermelon, kiwifruit, red grapes, oranges or rockmelon, and blueberries. Encourage kids to try each fruit on 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.