Building Curious Eaters
Through Edutainment
Making kids excited about fruits and vegetables through storytelling, music, and fun. Building healthy food preferences that last a lifetime.
The Program Parents Kept Asking For
After helping 160,000 kids in school cafeterias, parents begged us: "Can we use this at home?"
The food fight happens at the same time, every single day.
Parenting is a 24-hour job, and the food battle seems to happen in a cycle that never ends.
The Lunchbox Dread
You pack healthy food, but you already know it's coming back untouched. You wonder, "Will they actually eat anything today?"
The After-school Crash
They get home "hangry" and demanding snacks. You offer fruit; they scream for crackers. The negotiating begins instantly.
The Dinner Standoff
You cooked a meal. They refuse to look at it. The tension rises, voices get raised, and family time becomes a battleground.
Parental Guilt
They're finally asleep, but you're awake wondering: "Did I feed them enough? Why is this so hard? Am I failing them?"
You've Tried Everything...
And each time, the hope fades a little more. Sound exhausting?
Hiding vegetables
They found them anyway. Or they stopped trusting the food altogether. Now they ask "what's in this?" before every meal.
Bribing with desserts
It worked once. But then they learned to hold out, or they ate the vegetables but resented every bite.
Forcing just one bite
The dinner table turned into a battleground. Tears, tantrums, and everyone stressed. That one bite wasn't worth the damage.
Sticker charts
They chased the prize, not the vegetables. The moment the chart ended, so did the eating.
None of these address the real issue.
Kids don't refuse vegetables because they taste bad.
They refuse because they are UNFAMILIAR.
And you can't force, bribe, or trick your way past a survival instinct.
Most advice focuses on solving the symptoms.
But what you really need is for them to want vegetables on their own. That requires a completely different approach.
Here's the Method That Actually Sticks
We use stories, music, and interactive content to make vegetables familiar before they ever reach the plate. Kids meet them in TJ's adventures, discover their superpowers in the Gazette, and lock it in with NutraBeats songs.
The NutraPlanet Gazette
Your child refuses to even look at vegetables? They'll meet them here first, in comics, games, and adventures where fruits & veggies are part of the story, not "health food." Familiar = Safe. Safe = Willing to try.
Adventures of Lil TJ
Kids trust what they see. Adventures of Lil TJ follows a regular kid just like yours as he goes on everyday adventures and discovers how different foods help him think, move, and feel better along the way. Modeling works when lectures don't.
NutraBeats Radio
Ever notice your kid sings commercials they've heard 100 times? That's how NutraBeats works, catchy songs about carrots, spinach, and peppers that kids enjoy and parents actually like having on in the car, the kitchen, or the background of day to day family life.
NutraPlanet News
"Where do tomatoes come from?" When kids understand the story behind food, curiosity replaces fear. Knowledge = Confidence.
What's in Your Library
- All 11 Gazette adventures, 40+ pages each
- Adventures of Lil TJ & NutraPlanet News episodes matched to each issue
- NutraBeats Radio, 400+ songs
- A Flight Manual for every issue
What to Expect:
- Week 1:Curiosity begins
- Week 2:Recognition grows
- Week 3:Interest builds
- Week 4:Willingness to try
How We Turn "Yuck" Into "Yum"
We don't force, bribe, or sneak vegetables into food. We make them feel safe, familiar, and interesting. So when they show up at dinner, your child is actually curious to try them.
Why Everything You've Tried Hasn't Worked
You've tried hiding vegetables in smoothies. You've explained that "broccoli makes you strong." You've bargained, begged, and maybe even bribed with dessert. And your kid still says no.
What Doesn't Work (And Why)
What Actually Works
What You'll See Happen (Week by Week)
Here's the transformation your child will go through, and what to watch for
The Month-Long Vegetable Adventure Begins
- The food you pick (let's say broccoli) shows up in stories in the NutraPlanet Gazette, shown how it helps in everyday life through videos, catchy NutraBeats songs, history lessons about the story behind broccoli, science experiments, and more
- Your child encounters it 15+ times across totally different formats, never on a plate, just in fun, interesting ways
- They start getting curious, asking questions, sharing cool facts they learned
"I read about this in the NutraPlanet Gazette and then TJ tried it in the episode. Can we watch the video about it again?"
Your Role: Watch and read WITH them. Ask questions like "What did TJ discover about broccoli?" Build this as a family interest, not a food you're trying to get them to eat.
Curiosity Deepens Through Play
- After reading the Gazette and watching videos, your child is ready to DO something with this interest
- They tackle hands-on discovery activities, science experiments ("What happens when we put broccoli in water?"), and fun challenges
- The vegetable stops being abstract, they're interacting with it in safe, playful ways
"Can we do the broccoli experiment from the Gazette? I want to see if it really changes color!"
Your Role: Join in the experiments and activities! Complete Gazette challenges together. Engagement grows when kids feel you're exploring alongside them.
Practical Exposure (No Eating Yet!)
- Time to bring real broccoli into the mix, but NOT for eating yet
- You cook together, wash it, prep it, listen to the NutraBeats songs while handling the actual vegetable
- They touch it, smell it, see how it changes when cooked, all without pressure to take a bite
"It really DOES look like little trees! Can I help you cut them? Let's play the broccoli song while we cook!"
Your Role: Invite them to help prepare the vegetable. Make it fun, sensory, experiential. "Want to wash the broccoli trees? Let's see if they really smell like TJ said!" No mention of eating yet.
The First Taste (On Their Terms)
- Broccoli shows up at dinner, but by now, it's not a stranger. They've seen it, played with it, learned about it, cooked with it
- You casually connect it back to TJ's adventures: "These are like the broccoli trees TJ tried!"
- Because they feel in control and curious (not pressured), some kids ask: "Can I try one?"
"Oh! That's like TJ's broccoli trees! Yeah, I want to try one tree!"
Your Role: Keep it low-pressure. Use story language. If they don't try it this time, that's okay, familiarity is still building. "No worries, maybe next time!" works wonders.
They Start to See Themselves Differently
- Over the next months, they try several vegetables using this same process
- They start to identify as "someone who explores food" or "a curious eater like TJ"
- Trying new foods can become part of the adventure
"I'm an explorer like TJ! Explorers try new things. I wonder what carrots taste like?"
Your Role: Celebrate their curiosity (not just their eating). "You asked such a good question about peppers!" reinforces the explorer identity, which leads to more trying.
How Everything Fits Into Your Month
Each piece of content plays a specific role in making vegetables feel familiar and exciting
Adventures of Lil TJ
Your child follows TJ's stories where vegetables naturally show up in his world. They're not lessons, they're adventures.
→ Kids see vegetables as part of cool stories, not "health food"
The Gazette
40+ pages of games, mazes, recipes, experiments, and history. Your child interacts with the vegetable through play.
→ Repeated exposure in fun, zero-pressure ways
NutraBeats
Catchy songs they'll actually want to listen to. Before you know it, they're singing about broccoli on repeat.
→ Music makes vegetables feel familiar and fun
Flight Manuals
Every issue comes with a grown-up guide: things to do together, a four-week plan and meals your kid can help make.
→ You know exactly what to do at each stage
It's Working for Parents Just Like You
Actual photos sent in by parents from Seattle, Durham, and East Orange.
Week 1: My daughter wouldn't even look at broccoli.
Week 4: She ASKED for 'the little trees we read about in the Gazette' at dinner.
I actually cried happy tears.
We went from 3 accepted foods to 12 in just 3 months. TJ made trying new things FUN instead of a fight. My son actually asks to watch the next episode!
My son watches the episodes, does the activities, and actually TALKS about vegetables now. He told his teacher carrots help you see better, something he learned from the NutraPlanet News. It feels like magic!
Choose Your Adventure
11 food adventures, one library.
Monthly
Try the whole shelf one month at a time.
Cancel anytime from your library
-
All 11 Gazette adventures
Breakfast, Black Beans, Carrots, Broccoli, Sweet Potatoes, Bananas, Pumpkins, Pineapple, Cucumber, Strawberry and Jicama -
The Family Food Explorer Kit
The 7-Day Family Meal Plan is in your library now; the Dinner Detectives cards arrive soon -
No password to remember
Enter your email and we send you a sign-in link -
Cancel anytime
Click Manage billing in your library
Cancel anytime
Yearly
A full year of adventures for less than eight months of monthly.
About $2.42 a month · saves $19 a year
-
All 11 Gazette adventures
Breakfast, Black Beans, Carrots, Broccoli, Sweet Potatoes, Bananas, Pumpkins, Pineapple, Cucumber, Strawberry and Jicama -
The Family Food Explorer Kit
The 7-Day Family Meal Plan is in your library now; the Dinner Detectives cards arrive soon -
No password to remember
Enter your email and we send you a sign-in link -
Cancel anytime
Click Manage billing in your library
Cancel anytime
What $4 Opens
Adventures
11
One everyday food in each, with a comic, a character and a fact worth repeating at dinner.
Explorer kit
1
The 7-Day Family Meal Plan for the fridge, with the Dinner Detectives cards on the way.
Passwords
0
Enter your email, tap the link we send, and the whole library is open.
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curious eater?
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See What Makes NutraPlanet Different
Every part of NutraPlanet works together to make foods familiar, interesting, and less intimidating to try.
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News & Insights
Free Tips for Raising Curious Eaters
Discover practical, research-based strategies that help families solve everyday food struggles with creativity, confidence, and care.