Getting children to eat well is no easy task, but one of the best ways to encourage healthy eating is to get them involved in cooking for themselves.
Being involved makes children much more interested and likely to try something new, and there are plenty of ways they can get involved no matter how young they are.
So, we’re taking a look at ten of our favourite healthy, kid-friendly recipes from around the web.
Two Ingredient Pancakes
Did you know that you can make pancakes with just eggs and bananas, and none of the unhealthy stuff?
Doesn’t sound true, right? Well, check out this recipe from Kidspot Kitchen to see for yourself!
All you need to do is mash up some bananas (which your little ones will love), whisk them together with eggs and heat up in a frying pan.
You can always add things such as berries, yoghurt or Nutella if you want some more flavour too.
Rainbow Fruit Skewers
Any new and exciting way to get kids to eat fruit is a great idea in our books, and they’ll love these colourful treats from BBC Good Food.
All you need to do is gather up a colourful selection of fruits and carefully arrange them together on some skewers to make a colourful and fun rainbow pattern.
Healthy Peanut Butter Balls
These treats are super easy to prepare and are packed with healthy fibre too. You simply need to blend up the ingredients, then the kids can have fun rolling the mixture up into balls.
They’re great rolled in cocoa powder and make a perfect and healthy lunch box snack.
Cheese Crackers
The fun part here for your kids is moulding the mixture into their own fun shapes, ready to be baked.
They’re great to eat fresh out of the oven, but they can equally be stored for up to five days to be used as a lunch box snack or an after school treat.
Real Fruit Jelly
Kids love jelly, so why not treat them to some, safe in the knowledge that there’s no harmful additives or preservatives.
All you need is some frozen fruit, some fruit juice and gelatine and you’re ready to go. The only annoying part is having to wait around for it to set!
Spring Rolls
Not only are spring rolls super healthy (although the kids probably won’t even realise) but they’re also easy and fun to make.
Prepare noodles, vegetables and your meat filling (we recommend chicken or prawns) and let the kids choose what they want.
Once they’ve decided, they can mix it all up themselves and roll them up too (perhaps with a little bit of help).
Healthy Muffins
Muffins don’t have to be unhealthy, and these chocolate chip ones from Food Network have less than 9g of sugar, with an amazing strawberry surprise baked into the middle.
Kids can help with lining the pan, measuring out the ingredients and mixing them all together, as well as sprinkling the final touches on top at the end.
Tortilla Pizzas
These bite-sized snacks are a nice healthier spin for kids who love pizzas and are easy to prepare too.
Kids can help to assemble their mini pizzas, carefully mounding a little bit of salsa and cheese onto tortillas, before they get baked in the oven until the cheese is melted and they’re nicely browned. You can also add on extras such as sour cream or guacamole if you wish.
French Bread Pizzas
Another great pizza alternative, these easy baguette pizzas can be topped with anything you and your kids want. Raid your cupboards to find some toppings and let the kids create their own masterpieces!
Cereal Snack Bars
Cereal bars are a great, healthy start to the day that your kids can enjoy on the go, but instead of going for store bought, why not make your own?
You can use any cereals you wish, and they don’t even need to be baked, so check out this recipe from Averie Cooks.
These are just some ideas, and there are all kinds of ways you can get your little ones more involved in the kitchen, so be creative!