Try these five tips on how to improve your child’s opinion of vegetables.
- Let them see you eating whatever it is you want them to eat. It doesn’t matter if the particular vegetable you’re trying to get them to eat isn’t one of your own favorites, take a big bite, chew it up, swallow it, and look like you’re enjoying it. You may even want to tell them how “yummy” it is and that they’re really missing out by refusing to eat it, you get to eat it all by yourself.
- Look at the foods they will eat and try to think of ways you can sneak vegetables into them. For instance, if your toddler would rather lose their favorite toy for the rest of their life than eat carrots, break out your favorite carrot cake recipe. Give it another name, though, or they’ll figure out that it actually has carrots in it. The sweetness of the cake, along with the cream cheese frosting, is sure to be a hit and they won’t realize they’re eating those dreaded carrots.
- Make eating vegetables fun. If you cut them up into smaller pieces that don’t seem too big to eat, they may be more willing to give them a try. One little girl refuses to eat broccoli pieces unless they are made into “little trees” that are easier to eat after they’ve been dipped into her favorite dressing. This concept might mean you have to be a little bit crafty in making the vegetables kid-sized and fun, but if you want your toddler to eat more vegetables it might resort to this.
- Let them help in the kitchen. Of course, you’re not going to give your toddler a sharp knife and ask them to cut up vegetables, but you can still get their help. Get out your hand masher and let them mash either white or sweet potatoes. They’ll have fun mashing the potatoes to smithereens and may find themselves licking the mess off their chubby fingers.
- Limit snacks like cookies and have only healthy vegetables available for your toddler. Keep carrot sticks, celery sticks, broccoli, cauliflower, and cucumber slices available and easily accessible. They may not be happy that they’re not getting cookies or crackers, but if they’re truly hungry they’ll be glad to have the vegetables. Make a low-fat dressing they can dip the veggies into and you may find that you’ve changed your cookie monster into a veggie monster.
The goal is to outsmart the little darlings!
© 2009, Amanda. All rights reserved.
.gif)
