Rainbow Blog

Food Play!

posted by: Kia

Getting kids to eat their fruits and veggies takes a combination of a lot of things!  I think if you create a culture in your home where fruits and vegetables are fun and enjoyable it helps to reinforce the idea that produce is our friend!  I think play time is a great time to include fruits and veggies!  In my opinion play is practice for life!  Through play kids can learn to appreciate fruits and vegetables and connect the fact that they are part of making healthy choices for themselves! So let your kids play with pots and pans…imagining that they are whipping up a fabulous meal!  The toy company Melissa & Doug have some great fruit and veggie toys that your little one can “cut up”.

 Another company that makes amazing fruits and veggies is Comiditas!  We love their fruit and veggies!  Hannah chose to get the veggie set first…now she has her eye on the fruit set

Look at the cute mushrooms…the colours used for the veggies are so bright and cheerful…just like real veggies are!!! 

This excerpt is taken from the Comiditas site and I think it beautifully illustrates what they are all about:

We are a small business who seek to create meaningful toys to play with and learn from.

We support toys that are simple but not dull. Toys made from fabric tend to be simple, as they don’t need batteries, make noise, or have lights. And without these distractions, they offer an open door to a world of creativity and learning.

With this educational approach, we support our values and we can pass them on to the children.

An example of this is that our toys are made for both boys and girls. While playing with food has traditionally been a girl’s game, we have found that it is also interesting and engaging for boys. Experimenting with the texture and colours of the food through play is a wonderful learning experience for boys and girls alike.

Playing with your food is an invitation to learn about different fruits, vegetables, and food combinations. Comiditas encourages curiosity about food, and we can take advantage of that curiosity to promote good nutrition

I’m so happy that there are companies like Comiditas and Melissa & Doug out there that are making great quality toys that help parents create fruit and veggie lovers at a young age!!!

Happy Healthy Eating…and Playing
Kia