Your young children don't eat enough fruit to suit you? If you give them an apple or half an apple, do you find it somewhere tucked away withered and brown or in Rover's dish? Well, there is hope, you can get your kids to eat their fruit without first hearing, "Aw Mom!"
Let your kids build fruit kabobs. You can use any fruit. Just remember apples and bananas turn brown almost immediately if you don't dip them in lemon juice. I have found that lemon juice on fruit is often a turn-off for young ones. So you may want to get them to eat apples and bananas a different way.
Use melon cubes, grapes (green, black, red) removed from the stem, orange and tangerine slices, etc. Thread pieces of fruit onto shish-kabob sticks, alternating the pieces. Be sure to use blunt plastic spears, do not use metal or wood skewers. If your children are very young, let them point to the piece of fruit and you can put it on the stick, then show them how to take one piece off at a time to enjoy. This should discourage the child from putting the plastic spear in his mouth. Better yet, use unsalted skinny pretzel sticks or carrot sticks. Still, children should be watched while doing this--take a few minutes to enjoy your child's company and a healthful snack.
You can do the same thing with chicken nuggets and veggies too. Use two chicken nuggets per stick with steamed broccoli, cherry tomatoes, cheese cubes, green peppers and celery cut into short pieces. Use your imagination. Pour ranch dressing and mild salsa in individuals dishes for dipping. Children love it when they have choices.
You should be able to find packages of plastic shish-kabob sticks in supermarkets. The The Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service advises the following fruit servings for children 2 to 18 years old:
DAILY FRUIT NEEDS
Children
.2-3 years old 1 cup
.4-8 years old 1 to 1½ cups
Girls
.9-13 years old 1½ cups
.14-18 years old 1½ cups
Boys
.9-13 years old 1½ cups
.14-18 years old 2 cups
This thin book
Mom and Me Cookbook
is for little hands, ages 4-8. It has easy and fun recipes. I purchased this book for my friend's daughter as a gift. 
