Your Guide to Using the Loveggie Tray
Want your kids to try and eat veggies more? What a more peaceful mealtime experience?
Allow them to use all of their senses when eating veggies, even if things get messy. Letting children use all of their senses to explore new foods gives them positive food experiences and encourages them to say - yes, I love it!
Lots of laughter and fun are essential ingredients for kids' meals.
Getting kids to eat their vegetables can be, well, quite difficult. As parents, I know we’ve had many fits and tantrums over the years. Why not fill your child’s memories with fun and veggies with the Loveggie Trays?
Loveggie trays are colorful! Bright, fun, and cheery colors appeal to kids. You can use that color-love to your advantage in your child’s diet!
Now, parents don't have to spend lots of time cutting and arranging veggies on the tray for their kids. Loveggie Trays make it easy and fun. These trays can make your lives easier, while making the lives of your kids brighter.
(also see down below why eating vegetables is important for kids, what food play is and why it is OK to support it)
How to use the Loveggie Trays
Tray compartments. The compartments are designed for any type of food, be so veggies, fruits, breakfast, lunch or dinner foods or snacks.
Compartments offer manageable portions and make it less overwhelming for a child, especially if they do not like one food to be touching another (yes, this happens a lot!).
Kids feeding specialists advise to offer foods that a child is comfortable with plus introduce new food, even if the child is not yet eating it.
The six compartments offer this perfect solution - when comfort and new foods can be served along without distress for a little one.
Surprise box with a lid. Add something "small and cute" to the last "surprise" compartment. You can either ask the child to open the lid at the end of the meal or open it right away. In reality, your curious little child will probably make his/her own choice of when they want to open it themselves. Mine like to wait till the end and lo-o-o-o-ve this element of 'surprise'.
Many food specialists would advise not to motivate kids by a dessert at the end of the meal, as in "eat your veggies and you will get a chocolate". This would position the chocolate on a pedestal higher than a veggie and no no no, we do not want that either.
Think of this last compartment more as a surprise, and not a reward, especially if you are serving a dessert that day. Surprise! Surprise! Everyone loves a surprise!
The special treat can be pieces of fruit such as blueberries, strawberries, mango cubes, etc. In fact, do use this chance to offer healthy options rather than not - when they are a 'surprise' they are so much more appreciated by kids. Making non-healthy options not necessary, eliminating them from the game.
You can include a piece of fruit and make a comment like "there's no better dessert than fruit, isn't it?" Your kids will remember this statement. Mine always say this now as this is their own idea. Good job, you got it kids!
We offer two designs of the Loveggie trays (for now).
GREEN MAGIC FOREST LOVEGGIE TRAY
The upper part of the tray features these vegetables: cucumber, corn, bell pepper, radish, tomato, carrots, broccoli, peas, spinach, and other green leaves
BLUE MAGIC RAINBOW LOVEGGIE TRAY
The upper area of the tray features these vegetables: cucumber, corn, bell pepper, radish, carrots, cauliflower, peas, spinach, and other green leaves
How to use the tray - for 1-2 year old kids
Take the veggies that you have and arrange them on the upper part of the tray according to the image. You can substitute the vegetables with whatever veggies you have on hand.
For the Green Magic Forest Loveggie Tray:
Ask your child if they'd like to help Father Hedgehog to assemble his choo-choo train, smell the flower or check if there are any birds or small animals hiding inside the tree.
For the Blue Magic Rainbow Loveggie Tray:
Ask your child if they'd like to pet the dinosaur, smell the flower or see if the sun is hot or not.
This way the child will touch the veggie pieces and will be curious to taste them.
A happy one-year-old customer eating from his Blue Magic Rainbow Loveggie Tray
How to use the tray - for older kids (2 years +)
You can cut vegetables into round and long pieces, put them in a bowl next to the tray and ask your child to arrange the veggies according to the pictures on the tray, as if it was a puzzle. Your kid needs to choose the appropriate piece of a vegetable that matches the picture.
If you do not have the exact vegetables that are drawn on the tray - don't worry, just tell the child that they can substitute with the same color, or with the same shape. Whatever you have available that day.
Add the food of your choice to the compartments or have your child serve the food himself/ herself by adding it to the compartments.
How to use the tray - when you don't have any vegetables or when you are too busy
No veggie arrangements on the top - it is still fun!
You do not have to cut veggies all the time, sometimes you might not even have any at home. And this is ok too, happens to us all the time!
Add the food of your choice to the compartments and use the tray without any arrangements. It's fun this way too! Your kid can still say hello to the Dinosaur and waive at the Hedgehogs.
How to create fun?
To make arrangements on the top part, you can use whichever vegetables you have on hand. Use a few of the veggies on one day and use some other ones the next day. There are no hard and fast rules.
For example:
Day 1: cauliflower and radish
Day 2: carrots and cucumber
Day 3: pepper and tomato
Day 4: lettuce, broccoli, and carrot
Day 5: no veggies, just fruits
What else is there for a child and parent?
The Loveggie experience doesn't stop at the tray!
There are fun songs and stories to accompany each tray.
You can listen to and dance to songs with your kids.
Simply dance it out, sing it loud! You can do so with or without your little one :)
● The Green Magic Forest Loveggie Song
● The Blue Magic Rainbow Loveggie Song
There are fun stories narrated by Veggie
● The Green Magic Forest Story
● The Blue Magic Rainbow Story
You can turn the stories on your device while your kid is preparing his/her tray to eat so that they calm down and get in the mood for a meal/snack or maybe during a mealtime/snack, whatever you feel is right to do.
Enjoy your kid's veggie adventure!
Why Is It Important For Kids To Eat Vegetables?
Vegetables give your child energy and fiber, a variety of vitamins and anti-oxidants, and also water. They are essential for growth and development that the little body and mind needs.
Research shows that the nutrient and non-nutrient molecules in vegetables reduce the risk of chronic disease, cancer, diabetes, and also obesity and contributes to better mental health.
Teaching kids to eat lots of natural foods like vegetables, fruit and berries from early on equips kids with a much needed habit that sets up them for a healthier life style later on.
There is plenty of research conducted in different parts of the world arriving at the same conclusion that vegetable intake is associated with greater happiness, well-being, and satisfaction in life overall.
We, as parents, want the best for our children in supporting their health and happiness as much as we can.
Happy veggie time!
Why Should You Let Kids Play With Food?
Playing with food is a good thing for kids! Here are some of the benefits.
Playing with veggies helps with food aversions.
If your child is a picky eater, you know how tough it is to get them to try new foods, and especially veggies. Allowing children to play with food lets them experience the food through different senses. They’ll feel the texture of veggies with their hands instead of their tongues, which is much more pleasing and approachable. They may take the time to smell the food or inspect it visually.
And when playing is allowed, the pressure of eating is off. This gets your kid comfortable with veggies. So, when veggies are presented as a consumable part of a meal, kids become more willing to try them.
Playing with food decreases food battles.
Kids often get into battles of wills at the dinner table. “Eat the veggies, and you can have dessert or watch a cartoon show.”
Well, our kids know you can’t actually force them to eat.
Playing with their veggies removes the battle and gives kids a sense of control. It helps them develop curiosity about the veggies and approach them on their own terms.
Give your child a veggie tray to play with veggies, and you may see less resistance during meals.
Using more senses helps kids learn better.
The more senses that are involved in an activity, the more your kid is going to learn. Playing with veggies allows your kid to see, smell, feel, taste, and even hear (sounds like when you squish a pea!).
This sensory experience helps with language development, problem-solving skills, concentration, and comfort in trying new things.
Enjoy adding more veggies into your child’s diet - the fun way!
Help them make good food choices this year!