If you are anything like me,  it can be quite a struggle to get ANY fresh fruits & veggies into your kids, much less the daily recommended portions.  When I hear that we all should be getting at least 5 servings a day, I feel totally defeated, because I know that just isn’t feasible with our schedule.  It’s really a sore spot in my psyche.  I grew up eating fruits and veggies right off the vine and I know how good fresh produce is for our bodies, but in today’s busy world, how is it possible?

That’s where we have come up with this great Snack Chart that will allow them to succeed!  You get to set your own goals.  If your kids don’t normally eat fresh fruits and veggies, just start small.  Make their goal to be only ONE fruit and ONE veggie per day if they aren’t accustomed to eating any fresh fruits & veggies.   What’s even better is we have built in a reward system.  Once they meet all of their fruit & veggie eating goals, they get a reward.  The reward can be something you talk about together and agree upon.  It can be as simple as a trip to the library or even a special bike ride!

Here are some more tips to get your kids excited about eating fresh fruits & veggies:

** Have them take a trip to the store or farmer’s market with you so they can pick out their own produce.

** Make the rewards progressive.  The further along they get, the bigger the reward.

** Let them put their own stickers on the chart after they have eaten their fresh fruit or veggie

Here is how we accomplished my daughter’s goals:

• CA Grown Healthy Eating Chart Printable  Click HERE to print for FREE!
• Sheet of star stickers
• Marker

We made her goals to be two fruits and one veggie per day.  She is not a big veggie eater, and I did not want to overwhelm her with more.

 Remember, start small and work up from there.

Fresh fruit is so abundant in California, we don’t have to go too far to find sweet, nutritious edible goodness to meet her goals.  When we are at home, I always try to serve my kids fresh produce in pretty little dishes.  A small ramekin can make strawberries look that much more appetizing and accessible.

We cut up fresh veggies into fun, easy to handle sizes up and placed them into snack baggies for her school lunch.

We kept a close eye on the chart and she helped me put the stickers on after every accomplishment!

Yay!  She met her goals and we got to take a trip to the library!  It was a win-win situation.

Get your own FREE HEALTHY EATING CHART PRINTABLE HERE!