Eat, Play, Love: Raising Healthy Eaters is a blog series by parents and dietitians whose stories and advice reminds us that we can overcome the challenges of feeding children. Subscribe to find ways to build lifelong healthy eating habits for your children.

They say it takes a village to raise a child, so we’re calling on all of our “Cyber Villagers” to share how they Eat, Play and Love Raising Healthy Eaters during a blog carnival on Friday, May 6.

If you are not familiar with blog carnivals, this is an opportunity to join your fellow bloggers to read and write posts on a specific theme, like parenting and childhood nutrition. It is a lot of fun and a great way to amplify your message with the help of like-minded bloggers.

If you are passionate about parenting and healthy eating, we invite you to join the Meals Matter Moms and other bloggers in this carnival. Read the guidelines and suggestions below, and send us an email (commngr@dairycouncilofca.org) letting us know you’ll participate and any questions you have.

Carnival Details and Scope

1. The day of the carnival is Friday, May 6

2. Open to all bloggers known for their expertise in nutrition, parenting, food, health and related fields. However, we reserve the right to accept or reject all entries.

3. Please plan on publishing your post on your own blog on Friday, May 6 (anytime after midnight PDT). Email the permalink of your post by 10 am PDT on May 6 to (commngr@dairycouncilofca.org).

4. Completing your blog post and scheduling it in advance is highly recommended. Send us the permalink as soon as it is ready. On May 6 at noon, PDT, we will send you code to add to your blog post that includes links to all participating bloggers.

5. Your post should be focused on the topic of raising healthy eaters – share how you eat, play, love with your kids to instill healthy habits. Since it is a very broad topic, feel free to focus on an aspect of feeding children that you feel passionate about.

Here are a few ideas:

• What are your own personal experiences with raising and feeding children? What were some of your biggest challenges? Have you overcome them?
• As your children reached middle school and high school, did you encounter any unexpected food-related struggles? 
• How did/do you manage mealtimes with schedules packed with sports or after school activities?
• What foods are important for children? 
• What does the science say about childhood nutrition? 
• What is your feeding strategy? How has it helped you deal with dinnertime struggles?
• Are you a picky eater yourself? How have you modified your habits to set a better example for your children?
• Do you get your children involved in planning and preparing meals? Do you have any tips on how to get kids cooking? 
• Looking back, is there anything that you or your parents did that you wish had been done differently? Does anything make more sense to you now as a parent?
• Have you come across a book on feeding children that inspired you? Write a review.
  

Note: These ideas are meant to spark your creative thoughts. Please do not feel limited by them. You also do not need to address all of them in your article.

Format and Content Guidelines

1. Your blog post should be original and unpublished. If you have written on this topic in the past and would like to re-publish, please try your best to give a new twist to your content.
2. Video, photos and art may help tell your story.
3. As soon as we receive your blog carnival “RSVP” we will send you an introduction you can add to your blog. At noon PDT on May 6, we’ll send you the links to all participating blogs to post, so please be ready to update that afternoon.

Please email commngr@dairycouncilofca.org or send a tweet to @MealsMatter with the hashtag #eatplaylove to indicate your plans to participate in the blog carnival.

Subscribe to our Eat, Play, Love: Raising Healthy Eaters blog series to find ways to build lifelong healthy eating habits for your children.