You Want Me to Eat What?
One of the biggest problems I think all parents face is how to get kids to eat vegetables.
I started wondering if there was a biological reason for this…and sure enough there is.
Apparently children (and I’m convinced most humans) are preconditioned to prefer sweet tastes to bitter ones….and vegetables tend to be more on the bitter side.
Also children tend to have more taste buds than adults causing them to be more sensitive to different tastes.
They haven’t been exposed to a variety of tastes yet….I think I heard once that it takes 10 exposures to something to really develop a taste for it.
So I came up with a few ideas to help me (and you) get your kids to even just try a bite.
15 Tips to Get Kids to Eat Vegetables
1. Dips – Everything tastes better with a little ranch!
2. Smoothies – You can mix a little spinach into a berry smoothie and they’ll never know. Or check out this post on smoothies.
3. Popsicles – Have them help you make your own popsicles out for fresh fruits and vegetables.
4. Try different forms – Maybe they don’t like cooked carrots, but they may like raw. Remember to try raw, cooked and frozen veggies.
5. Act like a herbivore – Do they have a a favorite animal that’s a herbivore (plant eater). Pretend to be that animal for a day and only eat what the would eat.
6. Funny names – Give some of the vegetables funny names. I know when Connor was in to dinosaurs we started calling broccoli “dinosaur trees” and it sure worked!
7. Make fun shapes – Make your vegetables into a work of art. Create a scene out of fruits and vegetables to make it fun. Here are some ideas to get you started.
8. Grow your own – Kids will be more likely to taste something that the have a stake in. If they’ve worked to nurture a plant and watched it produce…I bet they’ll at least try it.
9. Sneak it in – Puree your cooked vegetables and put them in your spaghetti sauce or any baked good. You can try Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food
10. Eat them yourself – If they see that you eat your vegetables with a smile on your face…and don’t die or throw up immediately…they may be more likely to try them.
11. Keep trying – As I said before, it can take up to 10 (and maybe more) exposures to new foods before they begin to like them. Just keep putting them on their plates.
12. Must try it rule – Each time you put it on their plates, tell them they must try one bite.
13. Make muffins – My kids will literally eat anything if it’s in muffin form. When you subscribe to my blog (top right side,) I’ll send you six muffin recipes with fruits and veggies in them that even my picky eaters loved.
14. Read books – Read Eating the Alphabet: Fruits & Vegetables from A to Z (Harcourt Brace Big Book)
15. Bribe them – When all else fails…bribe them! Is there a special treat they’ll get if they eat their vegetables? A special show they can watch? Whatever motivates them…do it!
I have always had the rule with my kids that I don’t fight over food. If they’d rather eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for dinner instead of what I cooked, then I usually give them the option. But I also believe that it’s important to develop those young taste buds, so they have to take a bite of everything before they can get that PB&J.
Find the right balance for your family!
How do you get your kids to eat vegetables?
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