Let’s make veggies for kids fun! One of the things I hear most from parents is that they wish their kids would eat more vegetables. And I get it, it can seem like there are times that they aren’t interested in them at ALL, even IF you fed them organic kale purees as babies, Hi, I’m speaking to myself with that one.

So I’m here to help! In two ways: with some ideas for how to incorporate veggies in fun, no-pressure ways, and also some reassurance for you. 🙂

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

How to Set Up a Veggies and Dip Taste Test
DIY Veggies and Dip Taste Test

I’m proud to partner with Pure Flavor® to bring you this post and videos. We buy the grape tomatoes every single week for lunches and their snacking vegetables (mini peppers, grape tomatoes, and nano cucumbers) are just FUN! I put out a container of nano cucumbers when the neighborhood kid gang was over and guess what happened? They ate them ALL.

If I had to guess, I would bet that your food “struggles” are actually less about the food and more about the power dynamic, so one of my big tips is to stop TALKING about the vegetables. I don’t mean stop SERVING the vegetables. Just make them available, serve them with meals, and then stop talking about them. It’s both easy and difficult at the same time. Easy in the sense that it doesn’t require much…hard in the sense that you’re probably in the habit of asking/bribing/begging/reminding your kids to eat their vegetables/dinner.

Then, it’s all about making vegetables FUN! Which is what we’ve done with this veggies and dip taste test. It’s no pressure and bonus points if you get your kids can help set it up.

How to Set Up a Veggies and Dip Taste Test

The veggies and dip taste test is made up of three components, and I recommend enlisting your kids for help with all three: picking out/making dips; setting taste test up; and then partaking in the taste test.

The whole point of this is to have it be FUN, it doesn’t need to be perfect, so just remember that. 😉 Here’s how to set up your own veggies and dip taste test:

Get your veggies and dips

Obviously we’re using Pure Flavor® snacking veggies for this one. 🙂 Their mini size make them perfect for dipping and extra-appealing to kids (it’s the fun factor!) and the variety of color, shapes, and textures makes a great combination for this snack board.

I recommend three vegetables, two dips, and 1-2 crackers. Here’s what we used:

Vegetables:
- Pure Flavor® Juno® Bites Red Grape Tomatoes – These are SO incredibly sweet and delicious, the only way I’ll eat tomatoes when they aren’t in season
- Pure Flavor® Aurora Bites Mini Sweet Peppers – The mini size makes these ideal for dipping. Simply slice in half and remove the seeds. (I’ve also been known to hand these over whole to my kids.)
- Pure Flavor® Uno Bites^TM Nano Cucumbers – These new nano cucumbers are perfect for munching. (And throwing straight into the lunchbox.)
Dips: Hummus, Greek yogurt veggie dip
Crackers: mini naan breads, pita crackers

Setting up the taste test

Now it’s time for some art! You’ll need some basic supplies (paper and something to write and color with) and a board (cutting board, sheet pan, etc.) to set up your vegetable snack board on.

Make tags for items
Make voting cards (best vegetable, best dip, best veggie + dip combination)
Arrange vegetable snack board

Veggie taste test for kids setting up voting cards

Eat the veggies!

Now it really gets fun, it’s time to taste-test! Dig in and have everyone record their favorites.

Reminder: don’t try to force this, let your kids taste (or not) without pressure…it always backfires. And if they aren’t into keeping track of the results in a formal way, NO BIG DEAL!