Having no children of my own, I thought babysitting a five and six year old would be an easy task this summer but it was no such thing! Since our days were very active I wanted to make sure they ate a nutritious lunch, but I found mealtime very challenging. It was difficult to relate to the kids food preferences because their taste buds are still changing. Certain vegetables tasted extremely bitter to them where I didn’t notice any bitterness. I also realized that garlic and other really potent spices that we use to make bland tasting vegetables more desirable were also unappealing. Because their pallets aren’t as developed as adults, they tend to prefer sweeter tasting foods or foods that don’t have as much of a flavor profile.
Plus kids always want what they don’t have and can get easily influenced by what other children are eating. If I gave them the opportunity to tell me what they wanted to eat, they chose ice cream or some sort of junk food. I knew that they were going to have a sugar meltdown if I left them to choose their own foods so I had to get very creative.
Here are a few tricks to make meals a little easier
Hide the fruits or vegetables
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Most kids won’t eat the fruits or veggies because they don’t like the idea of it. I suggest hiding vegetables like carrots, chopped broccoli or sweet peppers in their favorite soup or casserole. You can also add chopped spinach to their morning smoothies or pasta sauce, they won’t even taste it. For a sweet treat try Katie’s strawberry smoothie Popsicle recipe to help get more fruit and greens into your children’s belly.
Mold the fruits and veggies into their favorite shapes
- If you’re having trouble getting your kid to eat fruits or veggies, buy stencils to shape them into their favorite cartoon character or something fun like a star. This will keep mealtime fun and intriguing for your kids to try new foods. My nephew loved when I shaped his PB&J sandwiches into a smiley face.
Keep mealtime simple
- Kids can get distracted with all the technology available like iPads, iPhones and TV shows. Make mealtime about the food and keep that time to keep the toys away from the table. This also includes you! Kids mimic everything we do so if we keep our electronics away they will do the same.
Play with the color of the rainbow
- Introducing different fruits and vegetables can make their plate and mealtime more appealing. It will allow your child to test a variety of foods and decide what they like or not. At breakfast time, place a different bowl of fruit on the table each morning like cherries or mango slices and let them try it. At dinner, add whatever is in season as your vegetable side dish. Presenting the food to them but not forcing them to eat it will give them more control and allow them to decide if they like it or not. I found this to be super helpful. Try my Zucchini and Squash noodles recipe to sneak in some vegetables at dinner time.
Lead by example
- I noticed they were tempted to eat some of the same foods I was eating. While they didn’t like everything I ate, they at least were able to try a bite or two which helped me see what other foods I could introduce. If they liked broccoli I tried adding cauliflower next.
Keep on hand their favorites just to be safe
- The hardest part for me when trying to add fruits/veggies to their meals was getting them to try something different. As long as I could get them to eat at least their favorite fruit every morning, they were still getting the nutrients it offered.
How do you get your kiddos to eat more fruits and veggies? Please share with us below!
Big Hugs & Health,
Kelly
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