Kid's Nutrition Chart Printable

I'm lucky enough to have a son who likes to eat healthy foods. The only problem is that he can be a bit picky and doesn't always get the variety that he needs. So I came up with this little system to help both of us keep track of his eating habits!

I went here to find out how many servings of each food group my son needs at his age. This site had a guide for serving sizes.
I made up a list of various foods that he likes to eat and did an image search for them on Google. I edited the photos in Picnik using the Polaroid frame which made them all the same shape and gave me space underneath the photo. Then I added a sticker in the shape to coordinate with the food group that it fits in and wrote the description and serving size.

After editing the photos, I saved them and then copied them over to a Word document with spaces in between and a frame around each one for a cutting guide. Then I printed them out on cardstock.

After that, I cut out each photo and laminated them. I have a Scotch Laminator that I picked up at Sam's Club for about $20. They also have them at Target for around the same price. If you have young children, a laminator is a really handy thing to have. I used it on this project to increase durability and make the chart dry erase.
You could also use clear contact paper. Or you can just print out a new chart for each day and use a regular pen or pencil.

Once they were all cut out, I threw on some self-stick magnets.

Every time he eats something, he moves that picture to above the chart and checks of the box in that food group with a dry erase marker. By moving the photo above the chart, he knows that he has already eaten that kind of food today and should pick something different.

I am loving this new system for a number of reasons:

• I don't have to try and remember what food groups he still needs to eat from that day.
• When we are out of a certain food, I can just remove that magnet.
• Since each food has a shape associated with it he can see for himself what kind of foods he can eat instead of constantly asking for something he can't have.
• When he asks my husband to make him something to eat, Shelby can look at the chart and see if it is okay instead of having to ask me if Jer has already had some.

Of course, I am not a nutritionist so I can't guarantee that the accuracy of the serving sizes and all of that but it is at least a good guideline. I don't want him to over eat so I'm not really worried about him eating the entire portion size. I'm more concerned about getting him to eat a larger variety of foods so we try to make sure that at least one box is checked off in each category.

Oh, and the serving sizes for both dairy and protein were twice the size of what he would normally eat. So instead of having two servings of dairy at 1 cup each, I listed four servings at 1/2 cup each.

Alright, I don't think I have any more disclaimers to add. If you would like to print out my version you can download it as a Word Doc or PDF File. (This is my first time using that file sharing program so let me know if you have any troubles with the download.) Or you can make your own using the foods that your child likes and the portions appropriate for their age and gender.