Families

Help your family make healthy choices together.

As the decision maker in your household, you play an important role in guiding your family to build healthy habits. Use these tips, resources and tools to help you along the way.

Activity Ideas

Make your own food art and show kids that healthy foods can be beautiful and appetizing.
Grow a family garden. Get kids of all ages involved in meals with gardening. Start small, with a window herb box in your kitchen or a garden in your yard.
Food Critic Activity: Kids are more likely to try new foods when they take the lead. In this activity, kids pick a new food at the store, taste it, and rate it like a food critic.
Kid’s Restaurant Activity: Let the kid(s) be the chef. They can use this printable template to plan out the meal, design a menu, and then prepare the dish.

Mealtime Tips

Enjoying a meal together is a great way to connect with your family. Here are some mealtime tips to try:

Remove distractions by turning off the TV and making a phone “parking spot” away from the table.
Have everyone share what they did during the day. What made you laugh or what you did for fun?
Try new foods at home. Kids need many opportunities to taste a new food to “get used to it.”
Have adults and older kids talk about the color, feel, or flavor of foods. It’ll make them sound more appealing to younger kids that may be picky.
On nice days, opt for a change of scenery. For example, go to a nearby park for a dinner picnic.