Fruits & Vegetables for Kids

Sweet Fruits

Children tend to like fruit. When researchers from Wageningen University in the Netherlands asked children ranging from four to 12 years of age what foods they most liked and disliked, every group mentioned sweet fruits as favorite foods. Offer your kids sweet fruits in the form of grapes, strawberries, apple slices and orange segments. Be careful if you are feeding young children, because toddlers can choke on whole grapes, large chunks of apples and cherries with pits, according to pediatricians William and Martha Sears, creators of the Ask Dr. Sears website. Always cut these fruits into small pieces.

Fruit-Based Treats

You can use whole fruits to make treats for your kids. Fruit smoothies are better than fruit juice, because they contain fiber. According to the Fat Secret nutritional information database, one cup of a fruit smoothie has 2 g of fiber, while the same amount of orange juice has only .5 g of fiber. During the warm months, you can use almost any smoothie recipe to make popsicles.

Kid-Friendly Veggies

Children often resist eating vegetables, usually because of bitter, bland or sour flavors, according to the "International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity." Focus on vegetables with a high sugar content, such as carrots, beets, parsnips and sweet potatoes, when feeding your kids. However, for the sake of balanced nutrition, don't neglect other vegetables entirely. You can often get your kids to eat a variety of foods by letting them help pick items when you're grocery shopping, offering foods many times and being patient.