Grocery shopping for healthful family meals is an important skill. Get youngsters involved in the mission with these ideas:

• Use weekly ads to promote interest. Even little ones can contribute to the shopping list. Turn to the produce page and teach them names of different fruits and veggies. Ask preschoolers to help select items, and let older kids practice their handwriting by making the list.

• Encourage participation and education. Give older children tasks as you cart through the aisles, such as finding 100% whole grain bread or weighing a bag of tomatoes. Help younger children count bananas or identify bundles of broccoli.

• Turn your children into supermarket spies. Make it their mission to scan every package for high-fructose corn syrup, sugar, salt, or hydrogenated oil. Challenge them to find items with less than a few grams of sugar. Have them hunt for items that contain 5 or fewer ingredients, indicating they’re lower in additives/preservatives and generally healthier.