The holidays are here, and for most families, this means numerous parties, busy schedules, and overindulging in party foods, sweet treats, and lots of pie. To maintain a healthy diet for your family and not get carried away with all the holiday treats, you need to be vigilant about everything you have at your house.

We don’t mean canceling out all the delicacies and treats but doing everything in moderation. Alternatively, you can bake these things at home to control the portions and what goes into them. Here are more tips you can use this holiday season to ensure your kids are eating healthy.

Maintain an eating schedule at home

While it’s okay to be less strict about what your kids are eating throughout the holidays, it is essential to maintain your normal eating routine.

Setting aside times for meals and snacks helps children develop a healthy relationship with food. It also provides your kids with a sense of security. Knowing when they have their snack and the time for meals helps them prepare for meals and snack time. With a schedule in place, they cannot overindulge in snacks or food, knowing the next time they are going to have the meal/snack.

Ensure that your timetable shows the time for eating and snacking is around the same time every day so that they develop a routine and stick to it. Most children require to eat three meals a day with snacking in between. It is recommended that you schedule their eating time every two to three hours.

Involve the kids in food preparation

An awesome way to make children understand the value of healthy eating is to get them in the kitchen with you. Most children enjoy spending quality time with their parents, and therefore you can use this time in the kitchen to teach them how to make tasty treats and healthy ones.

Learning how to cook and prepare stuff in the kitchen equips them with practical skills that they will probably carry into the future when they are even adults. Helping them make things in the kitchen may also increase their interest and curiosity in creating new and healthier options, which increase the likelihood of eating the healthy meals you prepare.

You can pick out new recipes and try them out together. Show them how to make some of their best treats and meals. Some of the healthier snacks you can have at home are yogurt, fruits, or smoothies. You can teach them how to make fruit smoothies mixed with some vegetables. They can also get creative with some of the combinations and find something they like. These they can be feeding on between meals.

 

Start your days with healthy breakfasts.

Breakfast is usually the most important meal of the day, and if you feed your kids with healthier breakfast options, it will reduce snacking during the day. Ensure that the breakfast menu is packed with protein-rich foods. Research shows that eating a protein-rich breakfast keeps kids fuller for longer and controls that part of the brain associated with food cravings.

Include eggs in your breakfast, some bacon, Greek yogurt, or sausages with some cottage cheese; however, remember everything in moderation.

Offer fruit alternatives when they ask for sweets and sugary treats.

Ensure your kitchen is stocked with fruits. Eating fruits may help curb sugar cravings. Besides, fruits are also a great source of vitamins and fiber. The brighter the fruit, the more nutrients it will provide—stock up on tangerines, apples, bananas, strawberries, grapes, papaya, cherries, etc. You can even go to the market and buy new fruits you’ve never tried and try them out together. It saves for exciting and unique experiences with family.

Try out new fruit recipes like apples on peanut butter, which makes for a satisfying snack. You can also make fruit pudding or fruit salad. Other things to try making are fresh fruit juices and smoothies. Don’t add sugar to the drinks or smoothies. Pro tip: If you are making smoothies and need to feel that sweetness, instead of using sugar, add some sweet bananas, and you are good to go. It’s a healthier alternative to sugar. For lemonades, you can add honey instead of sugar gives it an amazing taste and is a healthy drink.

Try and get them physically active.

In this day and age of technology, it is very tempting to leave kids watching movies and playing their video games for hours on end. Instead, they are ways of keeping kids active which are also good for their health. A few ideas for physical activity you could try are:

Going to the beach – click here for some amazing beach outfits you can dress up your kids for a day at the beach. You can play some games at the beach to get them running and sweating. There are lots of different activities you and the family can discover and do at the beach.

Fly a kite – you can either make a kite by watching tutorials online or buy a ready-made one. Flying a kite is an easy and fun activity that can provide hours of fun for your kids.

Skate, bike, or rollerblade –  you can get the whole family involved in a bike ride in the park. It is as much fun as it is getting some physical exercise done. If you don’t know how to skate, you can also learn it and do skating competitions with your family.

Bug hunting – if you have a backyard, you can find and identify different bug species with the kids. You can even get them a book where they can draw them, research about them, and write a simple description of all the bugs they have found. This is an educative activity that helps kids appreciate nature more and get out and be involved in physical activity.

Take walks or a hike – there are numerous walking tracks all over. You can choose the one closest to home and plan a hike with the kids. Alternatively, you can be taking morning walks or evening walks around the neighborhood. It’s an excellent exercise for the kids and even you too.