Instilling healthy eating habits in preschoolers is essential for their growth and development. One effective and enjoyable way to introduce them to the world of nutrition is through engaging and informative books. These books can spark curiosity, make learning fun, and lay the foundation for a lifetime of healthy choices.
Why Use Books to Teach Preschoolers About Healthy Eating?
Books offer a unique opportunity to connect with children on their level. They can present complex concepts in a simple, relatable way, using colorful illustrations and engaging stories to capture their attention. Moreover, reading together provides a bonding experience, making learning about healthy eating a positive and memorable activity. Scientific research confirms that exposure to unfamiliar vegetables and fruits through picture books will increase a child’s intake of these foods.
Top Picks for Healthy Food Books for Preschoolers
Here's a curated list of dietitian-approved books that make learning about nutrition fun and accessible for preschoolers:
Exploring Fruits and Vegetables
- Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert: This vibrant picture book introduces children to a wide range of fruits and vegetables, associating each letter of the alphabet with a different food. The colorful pages and comprehensive glossary make it a valuable tool for expanding their knowledge of nutritious options. Great for kids ages 2-3 years old. This is great for stories that are mostly pictures. Point to the pictures as you identify and say what they are (point to an apple, when you say the word, Apple).
- The Fruits We Eat by Gail Gibbons: This book explores various types of fruits, explaining how they are grown in different climates and places. It provides clear, understandable information about growing, processing, and preparing fruit, emphasizing that fruits in all forms - fresh, cooked, dried, canned, or frozen - are delicious and nutritious.
- The Vegetables We Eat by Gail Gibbons: Similar to "The Fruits We Eat," this book describes and explains different vegetables, from the parts of the plant to the varieties available. It covers how vegetables are planted and how they reach stores, offering a wealth of information about them, including how to plant and tend a vegetable garden. Gail explores vegetables from the parts of the plant to veggies we see on the table and all the varieties available today.
Stories with a Message
- Gregory the Terrible Eater: This book tells the story of Gregory, a goat with unusual eating habits. Gregory has a horrible diet, eating garbage of course! Gregory is a goat that would not eat anything but fruits, vegetables, bread, and butter. This disappointed his parents because they wished he would eat tires, shoelaces, tin cans, and cardboard! The kids think it’s hilarious!
- Flint the Dragon Learns to Fly by Kendra Parks: This book teaches healthy eating through a dragon named Flint, who learns to fly by drinking green smoothies! It's a fun story for kids who are reluctant to try green smoothies.
- Berenstain Bears and Too Much Junk food: This story follows Papa, Brother, and Sister Bear as they learn about the importance of nutritious foods and exercise. Mama and Dr. Grizzly attempt to help them understand the importance of nutritious foods and exercise. There are so many gems for teaching kids in the Berenstain Series, including, Too Much TV, Manners, Kindness, and more.
- We Are What We Eat by Kristy Hammil: This book uses talking and rhyming food characters to teach healthy concepts. Your kids will start to recognize the difference between foods that are nourishing to their bodies and foods that aren’t. They will be telling YOU when a certain treat is going to make them feel yucky from their head to their feet! Great for kids 2-10 years old.
Interactive and Engaging Books
- Nutrition Fun with Brocc and Roll by 24 Carrot Press: This activity book uses a "discovery approach" to teach nutrition concepts with humor. The main characters, Brocc, Roll, and Hugh-Man Bean, make learning fun and engaging. This is more of an activity book than a story book, but presented in such a fun way, I had to share. Great for parents looking for a structured way to teach nutrition concepts to their kids.
- Choose MyPlate for Healthy Eating Little Book: This book reinforces the core MyPlate messages to families, using engaging photos of kids and simple rhyming text to highlight the five food groups, as well as the importance of fruits, vegetables, water, and healthy snacks. This children’s book is an innovative way to share MyPlate guidelines with participants in WIC, Snap-Ed, and CACFP programs. Engaging photos of kids and simple rhyming text tout five food groups as well as fruits and veggies, drinking water, and healthy snacks. This popular series of children’s books encourages reading aloud while teaching the whole family healthy habits.
- N is for Nutrition: Every letter of the alphabet is followed by a food or nutrient that kids can include in their diet. This book is perfect for kids ages 4-8 years old. Here is an excerpt: O is for oranges- Oranges are a healthy snack, full of vitamin C, cut them up and peel them back, they’re great for you and me!
Other solid choices
- Good Enough to Eat by Lizzy Rockwell: This book might be a little out of date (giving nutrition advice that has been changed since 2009), but the general ideas can still be appreciated. From the back cover of the book, we read, “In this book you’ll learn all about the nutrient groups-carbohydrates, protein, fat, water, vitamins, and minerals, each nutrient’s function, which foods contain which nutrients, how much of each nutrient a kid needs each day, and how the body digests food.
Tips for Making Storytime Educational and Fun
- Point and Identify: Point to the pictures as you identify and say what they are (point to an apple, when you say the word, Apple). This is great for stories that are mostly pictures. Don’t just say “banana”, point to it as well!
- Be Expressive: Use dramatics! Change your voice to reflect emotion and emphasize different points of the story.
- Encourage Repetition: You may get tired of the same books every night, but repetition helps kids learn.
- Pause and Ask Questions: If your youngster is drawn to a particular page, phrase or illustration, take the time to explore their curiosity and ask questions: What colors do they see? What type of fruit or vegetable is that? What do they think it would taste like?
- Don’t Rush: I know it’s tempting to skip pages and rush through bedtime stories, but get to bed 10-15 minutes earlier than normal and enjoy the time together. Remember, they are only little once, and they won’t be as attentive to story time when they are teens!
- Let Your Kids Repeat Back to You.
Beyond Books: Engaging Activities to Reinforce Learning
To further enhance your preschooler's understanding of healthy eating, consider incorporating these activities:
- Visit a Farmers' Market: Take your child to a local farmers' market and let them choose fresh fruits and vegetables. We recommend Stefan Page’s adorable board book, We’re Going To The Farmers’ Market.
- Cook Together: Involve your child in preparing healthy meals and snacks. Several studies show that involving children in meal choice and preparation is an important first step in getting them to try new and unique foods.
- Make it Colorful: Encourage your child to eat a variety of colorful foods, explaining that different colors provide different nutrients. Healthline’s #1 tip for teaching kids about nutrition is to make eating colorful: “Eating foods of different colors isn’t just fun - it has health benefits too. [It helps] your kids understand the nutritional value of including a rainbow of colorful foods in their regular diet.”
A Note on Addressing Picky Eating
For parents dealing with picky eaters or children with food refusal and avoidant eating issues, resources like "Food Refusal and Avoidant Eating in Children, including those with Autism Spectrum Conditions" by Gillian Harris and Elizabeth Shea can provide valuable insights and strategies.
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Recipes and Cookbooks for Kids
Discover the ultimate guide to delicious, paleo- and keto-friendly meals that your kids will love! In this groundbreaking cookbook, renowned chef Pete Evans presents 120 easy, mouthwatering recipes designed to keep your little ones happy and healthy.
Inside, you’ll find:
- Baby Food recipes, ranging from comforting and nourishing broths for delicate tummies to omega-3-rich pates for brain development, and protein-packed purees.
- Irresistible Kids’ Meals such as guilt-free and crispy Chicken Nuggets, low-carb takes on family favorites such as Zoodles Bolognese and Pizza Margherita, fresh and zesty Fish Tacos, sweet and savory Sticky Pork Balls, and crunchy Paleo Nachos, as well as easy and quick soups, salads, and snacks.
- Naturally sweet and sugar-free desserts such as Coconut Cupcakes and Banana Berry Ice Cream.
- Refreshing and satisfying drinks such as smoothies, kvass, and kefir.
- Easy fermented foods and gluten-free breads.
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