“… my child enjoyed exploring the vegetable we were reading about while reading the ebook, which enhanced his willingness to try the vegetable during a meal straight afterwards. I am looking forward to reading more of the ebooks with him.”
- Amber
SEE & EAT BOOKS AND ACTIVITIES
Helping your little ones to know and love their vegetables!
SEE & EAT books each show a different vegetable’s journey from farm-to-fork. You can read the ebooks on a smartphone or tablet and, if you wish, personalise them with your child.
Or you can buy printed copies of the books to look at with your child.
Looking at a SEE & EAT book or ebook for a few minutes a day for a couple of weeks can make all the difference when the vegetable appears on your child’s plate! Or check out the activities page for more fun ways to help your child to know and love their greens!
How do See & Eat books work?
How do SEE & EAT books and activities work?
The SEE & EAT team are passionate about helping little ones to know and love their vegetables!
We know it can be difficult for parents to persuade young children to eat a variety of healthy foods. Research shows that pre-schoolers are more likely to eat their vegetables at mealtimes if they already know what the vegetables look like and where they come from. The more familiar your child is with a vegetable before it appears on their plate, the better. And this is especially true for vegetables that children don’t like or haven’t tried before.
So, we designed SEE & EAT books, ebooks and other activities to help young children become more familiar with vegetables by showing each food’s journey from 'farm to fork’. Our research shows that looking at SEE & EAT picture books with a child for a few minutes a day for a couple of weeks can make all the difference. Parents tell us that it’s easier and more enjoyable to get children to eat a vegetable after looking at a SEE & EAT book about it... and children enjoy eating the veg and eat more of it too! Which has to be good news, all round!
To learn more about the research behind SEE & EAT, visit the University of Reading’s Kid’s Food Choices page.
Who are the SEE & EAT team?
The SEE & EAT team are led by Professor Carmel Houston-Price at the University of Reading. Our resources have been created, evaluated and shared with the public through collaborations with researchers at institutions including City University, Open University, Oxford Brookes University, University of Reading, University of Helsinki, University of Turin and University of Warsaw and through partnerships with organisations including Boom House Books, British Nutrition Foundation, Colruyt Group, European Food Information Council, and Fuzzy Flamingo.
The development of SEE & EAT resources was possible thanks to funding from EIT Food, the innovation community on Food of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the EU, under the Horizon 2020 EU Framework Programme for Research Innovation, and from the Institute of Food Nutrition & Health at the University of Reading.
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Parents' experience of See & Eat
“I have been reading the ebooks with both of my children. Like many toddlers, they aren't terribly keen on vegetables, particularly green ones. My eldest (about 3 years old at the time) enjoyed looking at the Spinach ebook, particularly when we added a few pictures of her helping us in the kitchen. She eventually decided to taste some raw spinach and, months later, still likes to eat it as a salad. We've downloaded most of the other e-books and we're planning to incorporate them into our activities at home to help the kids familiarise with a range of vegetables they aren't eating yet.”
- Anna
“I really like the different resources on the See&Eat website. Clear, evidence-based, and nicely presented. The editable ebooks are excellent to help young children familiarise with a range of vegetables, and the tips are also really useful. I will probably go back to this website as the kids grow to explore new resources and activities to try at home.”
- Anna
“My son has never liked tomatoes, so we chose the tomato book. Before we looked at the ebook he wouldn’t even put them near his mouth, but once we’d looked at the ebook he recognised what they were and would ask to try tomatoes.”
- Nicola
“The book was so easy to edit. My daughter really enjoyed seeing the pictures of herself with the vegetables during the story. She loved hearing our voices when we moved to the next page.”
- Katie
“My children were both quite good when they were babies and being weaned, and then they just went off vegetables and wouldn’t eat them …so we tried the books and they took to peppers quite well with the pepper book.”
- Tracy