Fruits and Vegetables for Kids - Learn healthy eating

"Fruits and Vegetables for Kids" is a free interactive application designed for children aged 1 to 4. It is a condensed version of the "Nature for Tots" app. Parents and their little ones can explore delightful images of various fruits and vegetables while learning their names. Once the child has gone through all the flashcards, they can enjoy a playful quiz to test their word recognition skills. Regardless of the quiz results, the child will receive encouraging applause and see cheerful balloons, nurturing their developmental progress.

The 5 steps to success include:

involve your child in food preparation and planning

enjoy fruit and vegetables

presentation

include fruit and vegetables in meals wherever possible

keep trying.

Involve your child in food preparation and planning

Suggestions include:

Involve your child in choosing which fruit or vegetables they would like.

Take your child fruit and vegetable shopping and let them see, smell and feel the fruit and vegetables with you.

Ask your child to draw a picture and describe the food to you.

Let your child help wash and prepare fruit and vegetables. Use this opportunity to explore new colours and shapes.

Encourage their skills by letting them make a simple salad to serve themselves.

Count out grapes or berries together into a bowl.

Grow some vegetables or herbs in the garden or pot. Let your child water and nurture the plant.

Common fruit and vegetable related issues include:

Fruit juices are not necessary – it is better to eat the fruit instead and have a thirst-quenching glass of water. Fruit juices may be a good source of some vitamins, but the downside is they are high in natural sugars and low in fibre. If you do include fruit juice in your child’s diet, limit this to 1/2 cup (no added sugar) occasionally.

Potato chips are not the best way to eat potato – chips and crisps are made from potatoes but prepared by cooking in oil. They are high in fat and salt, and best left for special occasions.

Fruits bars and fruit straps are high in sugar – even though they usually contain some fruit, they are low in fibre and stick to children’s teeth, so are best avoided. Children will enjoy a fresh fruit platter or frozen fruit pieces if offered instead.

Wash all fruit and vegetables – research shows that the amount of pesticides on fresh vegetables and fruit is very low and no reason for concern, even in very young children and breastfeeding mothers. However, vegetables and fruit should still always be washed before eating to reduce the risk from any microbial contamination.

Follow the seasons – when vegetables and fruit are out of season and more expensive, save money by using frozen, tinned or dried vegetables and fruit. These have vitamin and nutritional contents similar to fresh products.

Supervise young children – to reduce the risk of choking, toddlers and young children should always be seated and supervised while eating all foods, including chopped raw fruit, vegetables and all ‘hard’ foods.

Something more 

This educational app features complete sets of flashcards for "Fruits" and "Vegetables" from the original "Nature for Kids" app. Additionally, it offers snippet demo sets covering categories like "Berries", "Flowers", "Mushrooms", "Nature" (including sea, island, forest, river, mountain, etc.), "Seasons", and "Natural phenomena" (such as rain, rainbow, lightning). If there are older siblings attending primary school, they can also benefit from this educational game. Beyond English, the app supports German, Russian, and Ukrainian languages.

It is not necessary for the child to read to engage with this app; the simple interface and audio prompts enable even the youngest users to play and learn autonomously. Research indicates that children relish exploring vibrant pictures accompanied by sounds, often asking to revisit them repeatedly. Participating in brief educational sessions like these (5-10 minutes daily) activates various brain regions, as suggested by Glenn Doman. This stimulation facilitates the development of photographic memory, propelling the child's cognitive growth ahead of their peers, opening doors to a world of vast knowledge from early childhood.

Glenn Doman emphasizes the ease with which young children absorb new information, stressing the vital opportunity this presents for learning. Embracing this capacity is crucial. Moreover, the app serves as a valuable supplementary tool for language education, supporting various languages such as English, Spanish, French, German, Russian, Polish, and Ukrainian.