As a parent, you are concerned about how balanced your child’s diet is, right? You want to make sure your child is eating the right amount of each type of food and getting the right amount of different nutrients. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a tool to help you as you create meals for your child to visually see how much of each type of food you should be filling her plate with?
Guess what? Now there is one! Introducing the Healthy Habits Kids Plate:
There are three sections on the Healthy Habits Kids Plate, which is designed for kids ages 2-8. 1/2 of the plate is for vegetables and fruits, 1/4 of the plate is for grains, and 1/4 of the plate is for protein. I love this plate because it gives both parents and kids a visual reminder of what kinds of foods should fill our plates.
It’s an excellent teaching tool to show kids just how much of their plate should be filled with vegetables and fruits. It’s helpful for parents, as well. I think there are a lot of parents out there confused about the ratios of nutrients our children should be getting and would be surprised to see that only 1/4 of the plate should be filled with protein. So many parents think protein foods need to be front and center, when it’s vegetables and fruits that should take the center stage at each meal.
Meghan was super excited when her new plate came in the mail, as she loves anything new. I showed her the pictures on the plate, explaining how all of her favorite vegetables need to fill up the big portion of the plate. I think she’s a little young yet to understand, but she liked looking at the pictures and naming the different foods she saw.
When it came time to try the plate, I found it more helpful than I anticipated. We were having a Peas and Thank You recipe, Quinoa and Zucchini Lasagna, with some roasted cauliflower and a salad. I deconstructed the salad and lasagna for Meghan, so her plate looked like this:
The fruit and vegetable section included roasted cauliflower, zucchini, and pepitas. The pepitas should have been in the protein section, but as you can see that section was already overflowing. A good lesson! I always give Meghan cheese with her dinner because she loves it, but now I see that it takes up a big portion of her protein section. There were also shelled edamame in her protein section. Quinoa was in the grain section.
Predictably, Meghan ate the cheese first, then she started working on the edamame.
She quickly polished off her entire protein section. Then something smelled funny.
Was that you, Daddy?
There were gentle reminders to continue eating, but then she got completely enthralled with putting her fork into the opening of the sippy cup.
If you remember this video, Meghan loves roasted cauliflower. This night, however, she wanted nothing to do with it. Aren’t toddlers funny little things? Meghan sat happily at the table, not eating, while Tim and I finished our dinner. I don’t withhold dessert (which is usually fruit) for not eating all of dinner, so we all enjoyed a carrot cake cookie for dessert.
I don’t think whether or not a toddler is getting enough fruits and vegetables can be judged by one meal, but I love that this plate gives me a visual goal of how much I would like her to eat. It will also be a great teaching tool as Meghan gets older. I know that the habits she forms now are going to stick with her, and this plate will help me in that journey.
I also love that although the plate is plastic, it is BPA-free. I think it would be great if it was a durable glass or stainless steel, but then it probably wouldn’t be able to be the affordable price of $4.99. At $4.99, this plate is a great deal!
Would you like to have one of these plates? Of course you would! Amy from www.superhealthykids.com has graciously agreed to give one Happy Healthy Mama reader a Healthy Habits Kids plate.
There are four ways you can enter to win. Please leave a separate comment for each entry.
1. Leave a comment telling me your child’s favorite vegetable.
2. Subscribe, either by email or feed reader, to Happy Healthy Mama (or let me know that you already have).
3. Tweet about the giveaway and/or like my Facebook page.
4. If you are a blogger, link back to this giveaway in a blog post. If you are not a blogger, refer a friend to Happy Healthy Mama. Just leave your friend’s name in the comment section.
You can enter through the weekend; the winner will be chosen by random and announced Monday!
Healthy Living Playbook!
Cool plate! Veggies are the hardest thing to get my toddler to eat, but I believe his favorite is peas. Also, do you have any great lemon bread or muffin recipes? Thx! Jenny
I love this plate! I think my three-year old would like it. We are actually incredibly lucky and haven’t had much trouble getting him to eat veggies. Because of this, it’s hard to choose his favorite, but considering that he ate nearly a pint of grape tomatoes yesterday… I’m going to go with tomatoes!
I love this plate, too! What a great reminder of how small the protein part actually needs to be. For my oldest, his favorite vegetable is radishes and my youngest would probably choose edamame or celery. I’m really lucky that my kids eat a lot of different vegetables. Probably ones that not a lot of other kids their age would eat. It’s probably due to their mommy never giving up and insisting on vegetables at breakfast (green smoothie), lunch, and dinner. Or, at least I like to think so, anyway.
Love this plate. Great idea. My 5 year old loves carrots. Also green beans……. But only with ranch. Yuck!!!! My 2.5 year old eats nothing! That’s how I feel. It can be frustrating, but he will survive. 🙂
What a great-looking plate! My son (4 1/2) has just started to experiment with eating vegetables again, thanks to some rather ingenious bribery on my part involving a chart and a much-desired toy. Can’t say he has a favorite yet, though.
And I already subscribe via Google Reader.
Oh! And I’m a FB fan.
I usually feed my daughter mashed cauliflower or peas. she won’t eat much else. she loves mashed cauliflower though, i think it’s because they look like mashed potatoes.
Carter’s fave vegetable would have to be cucumbers 🙂
I subscribed 🙂
I like your facebook page and tweeted about it 🙂
I like your facebook page!
All 3 of my kids like corn on the cob best!
I just asked my daughter what her favorite vegetable was, and she said “I love all of them!” I wish that was the case! She does do pretty well though, her favorite is probably peas or green beans.
That plate is so cool! I don’t have kids but my nephew loves soft carrots. He’s still a real little guy.
Noah likes frozen or fresh peas most of the time. Especially if they are hidden. LOL
I dont personally believe in dessert for myself, so i’m curious to see if that will change when I have kiddos?
I am in love with your idea of deconstructing the food so it may be approached more easily by a toddler. very smart!!! another fabulous post dear! =)
Libby loves peas…and we discovered yesterday that she also loves green onions. Plain. She couldn’t get enough!
Oh and I subscribed- I can’t believe I didn’t think to before!
P.S. Love the pics of Meghan holding her nose!!
Can I win two? Because my kids would totally fight over this plate!
Blogged about it today. My little girl likes most all veggies (thankfully). My little guy is much pickier, but likes cucumbers, broccoli, carrots and celery.
I would have to say squash or sweet potato. All the best!
What a great plate. I love the visual reminder as a parent AND that it teaches the kids at the same time. M’s favorite veggie is broccoli. Or tomatoes if you count them as a veggie.
I love this plate! If I don’t win one, I’ll have to go snag a couple for my kids. 🙂 My oldest boys favorite vegetable is cauliflower and carrots, and my youngest boys favorite vegetable is peas.
Thanks for a great giveaway!
Very cool plate. I am guilty of overloading on the carbs when dishing out plates.
Cael’s favorite veggie would probably be tomatoes. He really likes edamame too and I see you put them in the protein section which I guess I knew put never really thought of it that way. Brielle is kind of young to tell me what veggie she likes best but if I had to guess I would say green beans.
I’d give this to my niece, and her fav veggie is carrots!
my daughter loves almost all veggies and fruits . i would like to win 1 plate for my cute daughter shw will love it . i would like to refer this to my frnd harshad and his id is mdharshadhotmail.com
i liked ur facebook page ,ur recipes and ur cutie little daughter meghan.
This plate is awesome. It is so great for kids to get a visual of what should be on their plates – even though they might not eat it. Your daughter is adorable!
All three of my kids love broccoli…the rest of the veggies are hit and misses with each of them. LOVE these plates. 🙂
I am a follower!!
I am now a facebook follower too!!
I love this plate. What a cute idea! My son loves veggies but I would have to say his favorite is raw red peppers. He will eat an entire red pepper sliced up as if he were eating an apple.lol. Deffinetely not worried he is getting enough veggies but the protien and grains are our biggest issues with him. He would be more than happy eating a plate of veggies and fruit but the only real protien he likes is tofu and the only grain is oatmeal.lol. So off track..lol. So yes again favorite veggie is raw red peppers.
My son LOVES peas! 🙂
I’ve already subscribed!
I just “liked” your Facebook page! I didn’t know you had one!
I really like bento boxes for this concept (the theory behind is actually a plan of food types– starch, vegetable, fruit, protein) but the cute pictures help too!
My daughter’s favorite vegetable is brussels sprouts. No joke. We’ve been going through them like crazy lately.
My 3 year old’s favorite vegetable is broccoli (though usually with a dip). My 1 year loves frozen peas.
I just “liked” your FB page!
I am a follower of your blog -love the great info to help me become a healthy example to my 2 girls.
I just found you thru Oh She Glows and love your commitment to healthy food! I added you to my reader.
Thank you, Whitney!
My grandson’s favorite foods are veggies! His favorite veggie would have to be broccoli, cooked or raw! And he loves fresh peas picked straight off the vine! This plate is a wonderful reminder to all of us – maybe we should order them in a set of four for everyone! Thank you for sharing this!
I subscribed to your newsletter.
I “liked” your FB page.
I referred my daughter Katrina Coddington to your site
my child’s fave veggies…probably carrots if those count but otherwise cucumbers, romaine, green beans or pea pods
FB like you
My child’s favorite veggie is broccoli, believe it or not!
I’m a subscriber!
I “liked” you on Facebook!
I shared your blog with my readers at my blog via facebook 🙂
My toddler’s favorite vegetable is peas. Super cute plate and great ideal
My little man loves sweet potatoes! :0)
I like your FB page, great site with tons of awesome ideas!
I subscribe via email.
My girl loves herself some cucumbers!
my 3 1/2 yr olds favorite veggie is probably mushrooms. But she eats everything.