Games to Help Your Kids Eat Healthier

Nutrition is even more important for children than for adults, especially since eating habits are established early in life. According to HelpGuide.org, school-age children should eat three to five servings of vegetables, four servings of whole grains, three servings of dairy, and two servings of protein every day. If you, like many parents, are having trouble reaching those lofty goals, games can encourage your kids to eat healthier.

Food Pyramid Game

I learned this game when my kids were learning the food pyramid at school. The object is to teach kids about the food pyramid and how it is reflected in their daily eating habits.

Use a diagram of the food pyramid to create place mats for each of your kids. I found one at the USDA's food pyramid web site, but you can create your own. Let your kids color in the background of the pyramid in different colors.

The game begins at meal times. Give your kids poker chips or other tokens that they can use throughout the meal. They learn to eat healthier by placing a token on the pyramid in its appropriate place each time they eat an item in that category. The first person to eat something from all five food groups wins the game.

I Spy

If you want interactive games to help your kids eat healthier, you can modify traditional children's games for nutrition. For example, in I Spy, you describe an object that the kids are then supposed to identify based on your clues. In the modification, you describe food on their plates, which they eat when they figure out what you're describing.

For example, if your kids have broccoli on their plates, you could say, "I spy something -- green." The first child to eat a floret of broccoli wins that round. Depending on the ages of your children, you might let the winner of each round describe the next food item, and so on.

You can also adopt games like Red Light, Green Light and Mother May I to help your kids eat healthier. Just remember to keep an eye on your kids if the game depends on speed; you don't want anyone to choke in his or her quest to win the game.

Nutrition Score

Another game you might try to help your kids eat healthier is to assign each type of food they eat a number. At mealtimes, they add up their "points" from each of the items they eat to see who comes out with the best nutrition score.

This works best with older children who have learned simple addition in school. You can also use this to get your kids to try new foods. Assign the highest numbers to foods they have not yet been willing to try.

Goal Setting

Get your kids to eat healthier by setting goals each week. Let your children determine their own goals and reach new heights in nutrition, then reward the most adventurous or ambitious player at the end of the week.

Kids might create goals like trying three new vegetables or drinking three glasses of water per day. Help them achieve their goals by keeping a chart on the refrigerator to track their progress.