Importance of Vegetable Play for kids #BlogchatterA2Z

Eating vegetables and fruits is very important for a child’s growth . They contain all essential vitamins, fiber and minerals which are important for their brain development, immunity and strength. It is very important to introduce the concept of fruits and vegetables to kids. To make kids enjoy and eat all the vegetables, you can do several activities at home. Usually babies are introduced to vegetable and fruit purees. Introduce them to as many fruits and vegetable purees you can.

Some simple vegetable activities which you can do with you kids are :

·       Grocery Shopping :

Take your child with you for grocery shopping. Involve him in the process of buying vegetables. Show him different vegetables and tell him their names.

Cooking together :

This is very helpful for kids who are fussy eaters.Cook along with your child. Make him feel a part of the whole process. He will feel involved and will feel that he has prepared the dish. He will definitely eat whatever is prepared.

·        Colours :

Vegetables are of different colours. You can teach colours by showing different vegetables to your child.

·        Vegetable Stamping :

You can make beautiful designs on a potato, ladyfinger, turnip, beetroot, onions, etc.  The designs become stamps and your child will enjoy printing  a lot.

·        Peeling :

Peeling activities are very good building child’s grip. Give your child boiled potatoes or peas and ask him to take the peel off.

·        Puzzles :

You get a lot of different kinds of puzzles on vegetables. This will keep your child busy and he will also learn about vegetables.

·        Vegetable Cutting:

These days you get plastic vegetables set with a Velcro in between the vegetables, two plastic knives and two vegetable choppers. The child keeps the vegetables on the board and chops them.

Importance of  Vegetable Activities :

·       Awareness :

Kids learn about different kinds of vegetables, their names, colours and their importance.

·        Not Expensive :

Most of the Vegetable activities are done with whatever vegetables are available at home. You do not need to buy expensive games or toys for getting the child do activities.

·        Keeps him Busy :

When you give your child an activity to do, like peeling or stamping he is busy for  minimum 20-30 minutes and you can finish your pending chores or have a cup of tea in peace .

·        Becomes a helping hand:

When you ask you child to peel a potato or peel the peas , he helps you in the kitchen work and you get some respite.

·        Fine Motor Skills :

Activities like peeling, stamping, chopping help to improve a child’s fine motor skills.

·        Independent :

The child can do all the above activities on his own. You just have to give him directions and he can complete them. This gives him a sense of independence that he can do something on his own.

·       Hand Eye Coordination:

In order to peel or do stamping, it is very important for a kid to focus. These activities help in improving his hand eye coordination which is very helpful when he grows up.

·        Eats Everything:

The most important benefit of introducing vegetable activities to you child is that he is aware of all the vegetables and gets to eat them.