Playing with your food has to be one of the most underrated childhood activities of all time. Some of my favourite little-kid memories include plucking ripe raspberries off the vine, placing one on each fingertip, and nibbling on my berry-covered fingers. I believe this close connection to food at such a young age helped start a lifelong love affair with all things fresh and tasty.

I recently had the opportunity to see Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food, discuss some of the pressing food issues of our time. During the question-and-answer session, a young mother asked how best to get her children to try healthier foods. Pollan then told a story of how he engaged his young son in sampling new grub. At the time, his son would only eat things that were white—and dress only in clothes that were black!

Pollan summed up this desire for extreme simplicity as a reaction to the bombardment of stimuli we receive from media and advertising. So Dad’s technique of engaging his son was really quite simple: he invited him to cook with him. This invitation opened up a previously closed door to the joy of food. Pollan believes that in allowing your children to play with their food, you engage them in creating a closer relationship with all the possibilities and beauty that food holds.

Inviting children into the world of food can start from the seed and move up to the salad bowl. Beginning with a small herb garden that includes hearty plants like parsley and thyme can be a great way to engage children in growing food. Planting seeds with the kids in your life, and setting aside time to check the growth of the plants, will allow you to spend time together while learning about gardening. If you aren’t able to grow a little garden, make visits with your kids to a farmers’ market. This will offer them a memorable opportunity to pick out the foods they’ll be eating, as well as interact with the people who grew the food.

Once you’re in the kitchen, there are plenty of appealing resources for kid-friendly recipes available both in books and online. Pretend Soup by Mollie Katzen is one of my favourites; it has cute illustrations and simple yet really tasty recipes for even the pickiest preschooler. If your kids are a little older, try Katzen’s Honest Pretzels book, which has instructions on how to make your own peanut butter and a yummy recipe for easy, kid-friendly lasagna.

In a great online resource, “Bread Comes to Life” (breadcomestolife.com/bread), filmmaker George Levenson and Lily Tomlin (who narrates) help kids explore how a stock of wheat becomes bread. Through time-lapse photography and live-action footage, the film depicts the life cycle of wheat, from planting and sprouting, all the way to harvesting, and grinding into whole-grain flour. Making bread from scratch is a lesson in both science and art as kids make, mix, knead, proof, bake, and finally eat their homemade creations fresh and warm from the oven.

After you’ve enjoyed cooking and eating the bounty you’ve collected, share the fun of composting with your kids to help complete the circle. It’s a sterling lesson in seeing how what you don’t eat can help grow the food you will eat in the future. It nourishes not only the soil, but also the health and spirit of your family.

Jyoti Stephens, sustainability and stewardship manager for Nature’s Path, doesn’t have any kids of her own, so she plies her play-with-your-food approaches on her nieces and nephews.