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"Veggie Play" Placemats

11/3/2020

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Want your child to eat more veggies? Veggie Buds Club has a solution! Our "Veggie Play" interactive placemats encourage your child to "play with veggies" which, research shows, will make them more likely to try them!
  • Double-sided, one side encourages interactive play with veggies and the other side encourages coloring veggie pictures and activities.
  • 11x17 Heavy laminate.
  • Easy to clean, play with veggies or color with a marker then simply wipe clean with a washcloth.​
Order Now!
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Colorful Cauliflower Plants

5/13/2020

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This is a cute craft that celebrates cauliflower! Cauliflower comes in a rainbow of colors including white, purple, and orange. You can create your own rainbow of cauliflower plants using simple craft supplies that you most likely have at home already: coffee filters, green construction paper, brads (or pipe cleaners), safety scissors, and washable markers. And best of all- no glue;)
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Colorful Cauliflower Plants


MATERIALS
  • 9 coffee filters
  • Green construction paper
  • 3 brads (or pipe cleaners cut in half)
  • Safety scissors
  • Purple washable marker
  • Orange washable marker
INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Use safety scissors to cut around the circumference of 3 of the coffee filters to create a medium circle and 3 of the coffee filters to create a small circle (now you have 3 sets of large, medium, and small circles).
  2. Leave the first set white, color the second set purple, and color the third set orange.
  3. Run the purple and orange coffee filters under water, squeeze them out, and lay flat to dry.
  4. Cut out cauliflower leaves from the green construction paper (following the shape seen in our example photo) and snip a small hole in the middle of each leaf.
  5. Once coffee filters are dry, stack them in 3 piles with the largest filter on the bottom and the smallest on top.
  6. Poke the brad (or pipe cleaner) through the middle of each coffee filter stack and then poke through the hole created in the leaf. Secure brad (or twist pipe cleaner to secure).
  7. Scrunch the coffee filters and you made colorful cauliflower plants!

Step-by-Step Photos

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4 Simple Veggie Snacktivities

4/6/2020

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Monica Irwin, the creator of Veggie Buds Club, recently Skyped with Twin Cities Live to discuss 4 simple snacktivities (1-2 ingredients!) that are guaranteed to keep your kids entertained and well-nourished. A snacktivity is simply a snack and activity combination, they are all guaranteed to make veggies fun for your kids!
Carrot Tower: Slice 1-2 carrots into “coin” shapes. Place them on a plate with some of your child’s favorite dip (i.e. nut/seed butter, ranch, or hummus). Encourage your child to stack the carrot “coins” as high as they can to make a Carrot Tower while they snack on carrots and dip at the same time. They can also use the dip as “glue” to help hold the tower together!
Bean Tic Tac Toe: Create a “Tic Tac Toe” board with 4 green beans. Use any type of veggie, snack food, or dry beans for the “X’s” and “O’s” and play Bean Tic Tac Toe with your child! Place some extra green beans on the side and encourage your child to snack on these while you play.
Peas & Cheese Necklace: Twist 2 pipe cleaners together. Place a plate of sugar snap peas and cubed cheese in front of your child and have them poke them on the pipe cleaners to make a “Peas & Cheese Necklace”. Have fun with patterns and counting as you do this activity with your child. They can eat their necklace when complete!
Popcorn Garland: Pop some popcorn, preferably unsalted and unbuttered. Prepare a needle and thread for your child (you know your child best, only have them do this activity if you’re comfortable letting them use a real needle!). Have them poke popcorn on the needle and create a garland while snacking on popcorn at the same time.
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Beet Tattoos

4/23/2018

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Photo Credit Eric Harvey Brown
We are excited to bring you a very special guest blogger this month! Melanie Potock is a speech pathologist who specializes in picky eating. The kids that work with Melanie call her “Coach Mel” because she’s their food coach! After helping thousands of kids learn to eat a variety of healthy foods, Coach Mel decided to write her fourth book on a problem facing so many parents today – How to help kids learn to LOVE veggies. Just like Veggie Buds Club, Melanie embraces her work knowing that all kids can learn to love vegetables! 
Her latest book, Adventures in Veggieland, is based on her professional 3-step plan that takes kids from FUN to YUM! It’s based on Coach Mel's philosophy of the Three E’s: Expose, Explore, Expand. This delightful cookbook walks parents and kids through twenty different vegetables, presented according to season. Each vegetable experience starts with food play – a fun craft or a game that focuses on a new vegetable, like the activity below for exposing kids to beets before exploring simple, tasty recipes that kids make with their parents. The family then expands to fancier recipes, including some veggie-desserts, like super-moist choco-beet cupcakes.  YUM!
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These Beet Tattoos are featured in this month’s issue of Parents Magazine and when we asked Coach Mel if we could share them with you too, she said “Of course, and I’ll be sure to tell you the secret to removing them too! Just take a piece of raw potato under running water and it will magically erase the beet tattoos. That is, if your kid will let you remove them. Chances are, your kid will be too proud of how s/he licked and stamped their own temporary tat! 

Beet Tattoos

Beets come in a variety of colors and, fortunately, can temporarily stain your skin yellow, red, pink, and purple. Yes, it's a good thing! Kids need to explore foods in a fun way before they consider tasting them. Temporary tattoos are sure to be a hit with kids of all ages.
What you'll need:
  • Fresh beets
  • Kid-safe knife
  • Mini cookie cutters in simple shapes, like a heart or diamond (optional)
What to do:
  1. KIDS: Wash any dirt from the beets under running water.
  2. PARENTS: Boil about an inch (2.5 cm) of water in a shallow pan. Place the beets upright in the water with the greens sticking upward. Boil gently on medium-high for 4 to 6 minutes, until the bottoms are fork-tender. Remove from the water and wait until the beets are cool enough for kids to handle.
  3. KIDS: Press a cookie cutter into one of the beet halves and then remove it, leaving an imprint of the shape.
  4. PARENTS AND OLDER KIDS: Cut away the beet around the shape to leave a raised "stamp" for the tattoo. Or create your own shape by whittling away at the beet!
  5. KIDS: Lick the stamp, press onto skim, and let dry. The pattern will be faint on the skin at first, but if you hold still and let it dry (it takes about a minute) you'll have a lovely light-pink tattoo!
  6. PARENTS AND KIDS: Be creative! How about putting the stamp to use for a little face painting? It all comes off in the bathtub or with the secret vegetable that magically erases beet stains that "Coach Mel" mentioned above.
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9 Letter "B" Activities Featuring Veggies

2/25/2018

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We're having fun featuring a new letter each week in our house, and since this is Veggie Buds Club plenty of our activities feature healthy veggies! Below find 9 activities that teach your preschool-aged kids about the letter "B" (and that veggies are fun and tasty!).
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1. Read Books!

Enjoy our recommended "B" books featuring veggies and fruit (and honey!):
  • "The Beeman" by Laura Krebs and Valerie Cis
  • "Beans on Toast" by Paul Dowling
  • "Eating the Alphabet" by Lois Ehlert
  • "Monsters Don't Eat Broccoli" by Barbara Jean Hicks
  • "There's Broccoli in my Ice Cream!" by Emily MacKenzie
  • "The Lima Bean Monster" by Dan Yaccarino
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2. Paint with Broccoli

Simply dip broccoli florets in washable paint and use them as "paintbrushes" and/or slice broccoli florets in half to make "tree stamps". So simple and so fun!
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3. Letter "B" Tracing

Download this FREE letter "B" tracing sheet from Veggie Buds Club.
letter_b_veggie_tracing_sheet.jpg
File Size: 204 kb
File Type: jpg
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4. Bake Some Beet Brownies!

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5. Letter "B" Coloring Pages

Download these FREE letter "B" coloring pages from Veggie Buds Club.
b_is_for_beets.jpg
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b_is_for_bell_peppers.jpg
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b_is_for_broccoli_basic.jpg
File Size: 53 kb
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6. Bake Some Broccoli Nuggets

Enjoy this delicious kid-approved recipe that was included in Veggie Buds Club's "Kids Love Broccoli" box! You can find the recipe on on our blog here. 
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7. Make Beet Watercolor

Materials Needed
  • 1 small red beet
  • Salt
  • White vinegar
  • Paper
  • Paintbrush

Instructions
  1. Peel beet and cut into cubes​
  2. Place the cubed beet and 1 cup of water in a pot
  3. Bring the pot of water to a boil on the stove top and boil until the beet cubes are soft and the water is a rich red color (approximately 15-20 minutes); remove beet cubes and set aside to eat at a later time
  4. Mix a pinch of salt and splash of vinegar into the hot water (the salt will act as a preservative and the vinegar will brighten the color)
  5. Pour the beet watercolor into a bowl and let cool
  6. Now have fun painting pictures with your homemade beet watercolor!
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8. Broccoli Activity Sheets

Have fun with these Broccoli activity sheets! Create the letter "B" by using dot stickers or dot paint with Activity Sheet #1. Fill in the letter "B" with broccoli florets with Activity Sheet #2 (bonus if you have a laminator!).
b_is_for_broccoli_dot_art.jpg
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File Type: jpg
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b_is_for_broccoli_florets.jpg
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9. Play Bean Tic Tac Toe

Make a Tic Tac Toe board out of green beans and use two different types of dry beans as the X's and O's! You can also go a step further and create the letter "B" with dry beans and greens beans. Be sure to eat some green beans as a snack while you play!
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7 Fun Letter "A" Activities featuring Veggies & Fruit

1/31/2018

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We're having fun featuring a new letter each week in our house, and since this is Veggie Buds Club plenty of our activities feature healthy veggies and fruit! Below find 7 activities that teach your preschool-aged kids about the letter "A" (and that veggies and fruit are fun!).
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1. Read Books!

Here are some of our recommended books featuring veggies & fruit and the letter "A":
  • "Eating the Alphabet" by Lois Ehlert
  • "The Apple Pie Tree" by Zoe Hall
  • "Bad Apple: A Tale of Friendship" by Edward Hemingway
  • "Curious George: Apple Harvest" by H. A. Rey
  • "Ten Apples on Top" by Dr. Seuss
  • "Up, Up, Up! It's Apple Picking Time" by Jody Fickes Shapire
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2. "A" is for Apple Craft

Both my 2 and 4 year old had fun with this craft! I cut out some apple seed shapes and drew the lower case letter "a" and apple stem on construction paper. My 4 year old was able to trace the word "Apple", cut out the "a" and stem and use a glue stick to put the picture together. I assisted my 2 year old through the whole craft, he particularly enjoyed using the glue stick!

3. Letter "A" Tracing

Download this FREE Letter "A" Tracing Sheet below:
veggie_buds_club_a_tracing_paper.jpg
File Size: 201 kb
File Type: jpg
Download File

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4. Make Applesauce!

Enjoy this simple kid-friendly recipe for Applesauce (we added a carrot because this is Veggie Buds Club!). Your kids can help peel and chop the apples and carrot. Have them measure and add the apple juice and then observe the rest of the process.
Ingredients:
  • 4 apples
  • 1 carrot
  • 1/2 cup apple juice
Instructions:
  1. Peel and chop apples and carrot
  2. Add apple juice, chopped apples, and chopped carrot to a large pot
  3. Simmer for about 20 minutes over medium heat until the carrots are tender
  4. Place softened apples and carrots into a food processor or blender and process/blend until smooth

5. Letter "A" Coloring Pages

Download these FREE Letter "A" Coloring Pages!
a_is_for_apple.jpg
File Size: 402 kb
File Type: jpg
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a_is_for_asparagus.jpg
File Size: 239 kb
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a_is_for_avocado.jpg
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6. Apple-Toothpick Building

Here is a simple and fun "snacktivity" that is great for fine motor skills, problem solving, and encourages healthy eating. My 2 year old is not an apple fan (he's more of a berries and grapes guy) and he totally ate up these apple chunks on toothpicks!

7. Apple Oxidation Science Experiment

This is a simple science experiment for young kids! Even if they're too young to process why oxidation happens, it is still great to expose them to the idea of a "science experiment" and "observation". Make sure they observe what the apple halves look like at the beginning of the experiment vs. the end!

Materials Needed:
  • Apple 
  • Lemon Wedge
  • Knife
Instructions:
  1. Cut the apple in half
  2. Rub the lemon wedge on the cut side of one of the apple slices
  3. Place both apple halves on a plate with the cut side exposed to air
  4. Check on your apple halves in about 3 hours and observe the differences
The apple half that was not rubbed with lemon juice should have browned a bit and the apple half with lemon juice on it should still look fresh.
There are compounds in apples that turn brown when they are exposed to air which contain oxygen. This process is called oxidation. If you add an acid to the apple this prevents oxidation, and lemons are very acidic. 
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Veggie Holiday Card Printable

12/12/2017

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We made this fun veggie-filled holiday card! We hope you enjoy this free printable and spread some veggie cheer!
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veggie_buds_club_holiday_card.pdf
File Size: 4627 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Simply download the above PDF and print: to align properly print double-sided and "flip on long edge".
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Apple Stamp Lunch Bag

8/29/2017

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Back to school season is in full swing and here is a fun and simple way to decorate those boring ol' paper lunch bags! This is also a cute way to decorate goody bags for a fall-themed gathering or birthday party. 

Apple Stamp Lunch Bag

Materials needed
  • 2 apples
  • Sharp knife
  • Paper bag
  • Paint
  • Paintbrush
Instructions
  1. Cut one apple in half along the "equator" and cut the other apple in half vertically, this creates two different stamp shapes (see photo above)
  2. Use a paintbrush to brush paint onto each apple stamp
  3. Stamp the apple stamps on paper bags
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Pea Necklace Craft

8/24/2017

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This pea necklace activity is so simple yet so effective when it comes to getting your kids to eat veggies. We recommend using sugar snap peas as these tend to be a veggie that children are more likely to enjoy (they are super sweet and crunchy), another option are flat snow peas. 
This is a great activity to do during your child's morning or afternoon snack time, encourage them to eat peas while they string their pea necklace! 
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How to Make a Pea Necklace

Materials needed
  • Plastic safety needle
  • String or ribbon
  • Bowl of sugar snap peas or snow peas
Instructions
  1. Tie one end of the string or ribbon to the plastic safety needle and tie a knot at the other end
  2. String peas onto the necklace by poking them with the needle
  3. Remove needle and tie both ends of string together to make a necklace
Now that your pea necklace is finished, it's time to wear it and eat it!
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