Claire Wright
Serves: 4
Prep time: 2 mins
Ingredients:
1 litre still or sparkling water
handful of fresh strawberries, tops cut off and halved (or use frozen strawberries)
handful of fresh mint, leaves picked off and stalks discarded
1/2 large cucumber, sliced thinly or peeled into long strips with a vegetable peeler
a handful of ice cubes, optional
Veg Portions / Serving: 1
Recipe created for Veg Power by Claire Wright. Food photography by Claire Wright | raisingsugarfreekids.com
Claire Wright from addsomeveg.com shares 3 simple ways to prepare cucumber that the whole family will enjoy.
A fruity, sweet refreshing drink for a warm day, this cucumber cooler is a fun drink the kids can make themselves and enjoy without a sugar rush.
Method:
Peel or slice the cucumber. Take the stalks off the strawberries and halve (if using frozen strawberries, leave whole or halve if they are soft enough to cut safely). Pick the mint leaves off the stalks. Place everything in a large jug and pour over the water, then add ice cubes, if using.
Engaging Kids
Kids who engage regularly with veg through veg-themed activities, such as arts and crafts, sensory experiences, growing and cooking are shown to be more likely to eat the veg they engage with. Encouraging kids to engage and play with veg is the handy first step to them developing a good relationship with veg and life-long healthy eating.
Kids in the kitchen
Get the kids to make this recipe themselves – show them how to peel the cucumber carefully with a vegetable peeler, and let them chop soft ripe strawberries with a kid’s knife or butter knife. Have them pick the mint leaves off the stalks, and put everything in a large jug and pour over the water and add a few ice cubes.
Activities
While getting kids to interact with veggies for real and using their senses to explore them is best, encouraging hands off activities like arts & crafts, puzzles & games or at-home science experiments can be a great start, particularly for those who are fussier eaters or struggle with anything too sensory. Use these veg-themed activities as a stepping stone to interacting with the veg themselves. We have loads of crafty downloads here, puzzles here, and quirky science with veg here.
Sensory
Once you feel your child is ready to engage a little more, you can show them how to explore the veg you have on hand with their senses, coming up with playful silly descriptions of how a veg smells, feels, looks, sounds and perhaps even tastes. Find ideas, videos and some simple sensory education session ideas to get you started here.
Serving
The moments before food is offered can be a perfect opportunity for engagement that can help make it more likely a child will eat it! Giving children a sense of ownership in the meal can make a big difference to their feelings going into it and the pride they take in it. You know your child best, but if you aren’t sure where to start, we have some fun and simple ideas for easy roles you can give them in the serving process over here.
Claire Wright
Claire has been working with children, food and communications for over 15 years, and is our Editor at Veg Power, helping translate expert advice into small, practical steps for busy families, and creating recipes that are actually simple.
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