TRYING to keep a group of toddlers entertained for several hours with just a selection of raw fruit and vegetables sounds like an impossible task.

And yet watching children's food expert Lucy Thomas in action has to be seen to be believed. Lucy runs fun workshops encouraging children to love fruit and vegetables by exploring and enjoying fruit and vegetables, from broccoli to bananas, through play, rhymes, song and storytelling.

As part of its #LoveGoodFood campaign, Bournemouth-based Organix is filming a series of Love Good Food short videos, with Lucy and a group of toddlers.

Lucy tells Taste: “It can be challenging for parents to get their little ones to eat fruit and veg, however, toddlers are naturally curious about the world around them so helping them learn about the colours, the funny shapes, smells and textures of a variety of fruit and vegetables in a fun environment and away from mealtime can really help get them excited about food. As parents we tend to think about food as just eating, but we forget the simple pleasure that children can get from peeling their own banana for example, enjoying how it feels to peel off the skin.”

Inspiring children to enjoy fruit and veg is Lucy's passion. As author and founder of 'Mange Tout', her methods have been recommended by experts from Great Ormond Street Hospital.

She believes the toddler years are a key time to influence diets and a time when it is possible to establish lifelong healthy eating habits and a love of food.

For according to The Healthy Start Alliance Manifesto2, good nutrition in the early years contributes to good health and wellbeing in infant years and beyond.

But just when you think you know what your toddler likes to eat, and you are confident they are eating a healthy, balanced diet, their growing independence with food means they might take matters into their own hands – perhaps refusing to eat at mealtimes or becoming fussy about food.

Try these fun ideas from Lucy to help encourage your little one to explore and enjoy fruit and veg:

1. Encourage a wider interest in food, without asking them to eat or taste anything. Get them to smell, kiss, lick or crunch. You can show your child how to smell strawberries and lick one to feel the bumpiness of the seeds on the outside.

2. Give them lots of opportunities to touch and handle fresh fruit and vegetables, whether out shopping, at home cooking or even growing food. This will help them be more relaxed and interested in food.

3. Get a little messy - let your little one squash a tomato or squeeze an orange while you are cooking. If they feel comfortable handling a food they are more likely to want to eat it.

4. Let your child explore different textures of food by juicing, blending, grating or mashing foods with your help.

5. Explore vegetables raw as well as cooked, it's a great way to overcome a dislike of a vegetable. For example, small crunchy florets of cauliflower for dipping are delicious - and taste very different to cooked cauliflower.

PANEL

According to Dr Frankie Phillips, nutrition advisor to Organix, encouraging and starting to make healthier food choices in the toddler years will make it much easier later on for children to eat a good balance of foods.

So what does a healthy diet for very young children look like and what's the right portion size? Dr Frankie Phillips suggests following these tips:

•Regular healthy meals and snacks – toddlers need to snack as their tummies aren't big enough to take on board enough energy and nutrients from just three meals a day.

•Plenty of choice and balance – a varied diet containing a selection of foods will provide the essential nutrients they need.

•Each day aim for 5 portions of starchy foods, 5 portions of fruit and vegetables, 3 portions of dairy foods and 2 portions of meat, fish, eggs, nuts and pulses (3 if vegetarian).

•Lots of tastes in a range of different fruit and vegetables.

•Different colours, tastes and textures to add variety to the diet.

•'Me-sized' portions. There's no such thing as an ideal portion size for all children, as size, growth and physical activity levels vary.

•Not adding extra sugar or salt – too much salt isn't good for toddler's kidneys and sugary food encourages a sweet tooth and can cause tooth decay.

•Enough healthy drinks to keep them well-hydrated.

Dr Frankie Phillips and Lucy Thomas, have worked with Organix to launch the Little Book of Good Food – Toddlers & Families. It’s packed with advice and tips for parents on providing a healthy diet for little ones as they continue their exciting journey with food through the early years and beyond. You can download your free copy at organix.com/lovegoodfood

For more advice on toddler foods and tasty, healthy recipes for all the family, visit organix.com.

You can watch the Love Good Food video at: #lovegoodfood. Join the conversation at #LoveGoodFood.