Resources for Raising Vegan Kids!

I hope you’ve enjoyed The Ultimate Guide to Raising a vegan kids, but there’s always more to learn, more recipes for our kids to try, and more we can do to get better at raising vegan kids!


If You’ve Enjoyed The Ultimate Guide to Raising Vegan Kids, Please SHARE IT!!

vegan dinners for kids

One of the best ways to help our kids eat vegan is by having them constantly try new recipes & learn how to make their own food so they can feel more confident in what they are eating and how they feel!

vegan & kid friendly ecookbook

That is why I created a Vegan ecookbook specifically designed for kids (picky eaters included!) to get them in the kitchen making and enjoying food!

We all know WHY we want to be vegan or raise vegan kids, but HOW to raise healthy vegan kids, or how we can be healthy as vegans can become a little tricky. 

That is where all of the resources below come in!

We know that raising a vegan, or plant based, child will help set them up for a long and healthy future. But, how to do that and ensure proper nutrition isn’t always clear.

Sure, you could have them eat the rainbow (no, not skittles).

You could even have them drink daily green smoothies.

But, the thing that will help you the most when it comes to ensuring proper nutrition for your growing vegan kids is knowledge.

Knowledge is truly the most powerful thing you can acquire, not only for raising healthy kids, or making fun and delicious recipes they’ll actually eat, but also for combating those who believe they know better than you and question your ability to feed your kids a proper diet!

I’m sure you’ve heard it before;

  • “Where do they get their protein?”
  • “They need to start on cows milk after they turn one to get enough calcium.”
  • “What are they going to eat, then, won’t they starve?”

As well meaning as those questions may be (we know some people are not coming from a place of kindness, but maybe of fear- fear that you’re abusing your kids by feeding them vegan or fear that maybe they’ve been lied to all their life about what’s healthy and what’s not); those questions may come up.

Fortunately, there has been tons of research done on food/nutrition in the past couple of decades (and longer!), so we can learn the answer to those questions and more!

Reading through some resources will increase your knowledge, giving you more confidence in raising vegan kids, feeding them a proper diet, and answering those well intentioned questions without hesitation!

And, if you still need more knowledge about nutrition for kids, additional help meal planning for your child’s specific food needs, or more support; don’t feel bad about reaching out to a Registered Dietician for assistance!

Getting the help you need for your childs nutritional needs is not a sign of defeat or a sign that you can’t raise your child vegan; it’s a sign that you need a bit of help to be 100% (or as close to it) certain that you are giving your child the healthiest diet you can. 

It’s a sign that you are doing what you need to do to raise your child healthy.

Which is a whole lot more than what most parents, such as those feeding their kids the SAD (Standard American Diet), are doing!

So, I’m super proud of you for caring so much about your child(ren)s health and that you want to raise healthy vegan kids!!

Let’s dive into those resources I know you’re patiently waiting to learn about!

Vegan Guides And Books!

 The ULTIMATE GUIDE for Raising Vegan Kids

vegan dinners for kids

This is my own guide for raising vegan kids! 

As I’ve been vegetarian for over 21 years, vegan (or transitioning to vegan) for almost 8 years, and raising my kids vegan for a few years now, and having had to transition my oldest daughter from the standard american diet to a vegan diet; I understand some of the challenges that we face as parents. Such as picky eating and criticism from others thinking that we ‘need’ meat for protein or ‘need’ dairy for calcium.

I also go over nutrients kids need and where to get some of the most important ones, or the hardest to find, on a vegan diet. You know, in recipes and foods that kids will actually eat!

As a disclaimer, I am not a doctor or registered dietician, my ‘formal’ background is actually in psychology, but my true ‘nerdiness’ is for nutrition and the power food has on our bodies and mind!

How Not To Die

This book is amazing!

It’s not directed towards a child’s diet or even a vegan diet per se. But, it’s all about the important foods that we should be consuming each and every day to live our healthiest life and avoid the top killers in this country when it comes to health…

Because most of the top killers in this country are chronic health conditions that could be avoided through better nutrition!

This book was written by a doctor! Dr. Michael Greger, MD, FACLM went through thousands upon thousands of research and studies to put together this book, and then he went on to create;

Since his resources were not created for kids, you might not be interested in them for your kids, but you should certainly check them out for yourself!

His recommended daily dozen could certainly be customized (with smaller portion sizes) to fit a childs diet, and help them get the nutrients they need!

Becoming Vegan: The Complete Reference to Plant-Based Nutrition (Comprehensive Edition)

This isn’t really a book that you would read cover to cover; this is more of a reference book.

It was written by 2 Registered Dieticians, Branda Davis, RD & Vesanto Melina, MS, RD. And they know what they are talking about!! It’s a very decent size book (not as long as How Not to Die, but still quite lengthy and informative).

Have a vegan nutrition based question? Find the answer in the book!

Nosy neighbor asks you how your child is getting enough zinc in their diet? Find the answer in the book!

Judgmental ‘friend’ wondering how your teenage daughter is getting enough iron now that she needs more than before puberty? Find the answer in the book! (Although, honestly, it’s probably from the dark chocolate she may now be craving and eating, too!)

In fact, I referenced this book quite often while writing up my own guide for raising vegan kids, at least when it came to how much of each nutrient kids need!

Eat to Live & Disease Proof Your Child

These two books are both by Dr. Joel Fuhrman, who recommends a nutritarian diet, which is basically a whole foods plant based diet.

I can’t 100% recommend these two books enough, having read them and made some of the recipes in the back of the books myself for my own family!!

Vegan Cookbooks

Vegan & Kid Friendly Recipes

This cookbook was designed with kids in mind, to help them enjoy making & eating vegan food!

There are all sorts of recipes in this ecookbook, from snacks to desserts and all the meals in between!

It includes some recipes easy enough for toddlers to help with and some much more difficult that teens will still be able to enjoy a bit of a cooking challenge when making a full meal by themselves!

Find out more about this ecookbook for vegan kids HERE!

More Vegan Cookbooks for Kids

Vegan & Plant Based Blogs & Websites

Stress Less Be Healthy

This is my own little corner of the internet, focused on helping you raise healthy vegan kids, find great (picky eater approved) vegan recipes, and more!

Nora Cooks

This food blog has tons of kid approved recipes! I’m not sure if they are meant to be kid approved or not, but my kids sure love them!

I kid you not, every single recipe I have made from her site so far has been a huge hit in my home! Even my husband won’t turn down the recipes I find and make from her site, which is saying something!

Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine

This website is full of science backed information from doctors about health plant based diets.

As Hippocrates (the father of medicine) said, “Let food be thy medicine, and let medicine be thy food”. I feel like that is what this group of doctors running this committee is all about!

Peta Kids

Everything kids need to help them live a fully vegan lifestyle, not just food!

More Vegan & Plant Based Food Blogs (for awesome vegan recipes!)

Vegan Groups on Facebook

There are quite a few vegan Facebook groups to find quick answers to some of your questions about being vegan or raising vegan.

Just know, since these groups are open to anyone (most do have you request to join and are private, meaning you can’t see the posts unless you are in them), that means anyone else in the group can comment on a post you create. 

This is a double edged sword; depending on which group and how active the group is, you may get tons of answers to your questions. But, some members may also be a bit judgemental, as well 🙁 

Some of the vegan groups I have tested out (and haven’t found to be too horrible) are:

Vegan & Plant Based Health Documentaries (check your streaming services!)

I love health documentaries!!

I started watching them in a food sociology class in college and have been obsessed with them ever since. They are what turned my little experiment to try to eat healthier and more plant based/vegan into a passion!

Some of my favorite ones (that I’d highly recommend you watch) and share with your older, or young, kids are;

  • Food Inc.
  • What the Health
  • Hungry for Change
  • Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead 1 & 2
  • Forks Over Knives
  • Engine to Kitchen Rescue
  • Vegucated
  • The Kids Menu
  • Food Choices
  • The Game Changers
  • Live and Let Live
  • In Defense of Food
  • Bite Size
  • The Invisible Vegan
  • Plant Pure Nation
  • Cowspiracy
  • Fed Up
  • Food Matters
  • Foods That Cure Disease

Find out more about these documentaries HERE!

As for knowledge about a vegan/plant based diet, all of the resources above are some of the top resources you could get your hands on!

Good Luck on your journey raising vegan kids!

Feel free to reach out to me (at [email protected])  anytime if you have questions, are looking for more resources, or simply want to talk about the struggles of raising vegan kids!

And, if you would like to receive weekly emails from me, you can sign up here (and also receive a 1 week kid friendly vegan meal plan)!