Make Food Fun!

Do you have a picky eater on your hands? There are many types of picky eating behaviors.  Your child might be scared of trying new things, like fruits and vegetables.  They might only be sticking to foods that are familiar or maybe you are finding them at the dinner table trying to do anything but eat.  Don’t worry, there are several ways of dealing with picky eating and helping your child learn to try new foods!

Let your kids be “produce pickers”. Having them pick out their own fruits and veggies at the store could make them more excited to eat it at home.

Have your child help prepare meals. This will help them learn about the food and be more willing and excited to taste the food when they get to help make it.

Offer Choices Rather than having one option for the vegetable at dinner, try asking “Would you rather have carrots or broccoli for dinner?”

Enjoy Each other while eating family meals together Have fun and happy conversations at the dinner table.

Offer the same foods for the whole family Make things fair at the dinner table.  If they have to eat green beans, they will want to see Mom and Dad eating them too.

Fun Activities

~Name a food your child helps create. Make a big deal of serving “Dawn’s Salad” or “Peter’s Sweet Potatoes” for dinner.

~Cut a food into fun and easy shapes with cookie cutters.

~Encourage your child to invent and help prepare new snacks or sandwiches. For example, make your own trail mixes from dry cereal and dried fruit.

~Have your child make towers out of whole-grain crackers, spell words with pretzel sticks, or make funny faces on a plate using different types of fruit.

~Jazz up the taste of vegetables with low-fat dressings or dips.  Try hummus or bean spread as a dip for veggies.