This post is sponsored by Hidden Valley® Ranch. Discover how you can make vegetables delectable!
One of the reasons it seems like such a battle to get kids to eat well is because they keep getting smarter and smarter. Just when you think you’ve figured out how to trick them into doing what you want, they catch on to what you’re doing. They’re like little Terminator robots, constantly recalibrating their brains to fight you even harder than before.
Take Annie, for example. For a while I felt good that I could get her to eat a slice of wheat toast by spreading a bit of jam onto it, but then she realized she could just lick the jam off the toast and toss the healthy wheat-y goodness aside. Game, set, match, to Annie. Hasta la vista, Dada.
Luckily, Annie has yet to figure out all my tricks, and there are three especially that help ensure Annie eats healthy each day.
1. Make Eating Fun
I pray that no one ever puts a hidden camera in our kitchen because Heather and I embarrass ourselves every day when we feed Annie. We use funny voices, dance, and even sing as we prepare her food. Want Annie to eat broccoli? Sing a little of Dana Carvey’s “Choppin’ Broccoli” and she will clean her plate. This won’t always work, I know, but if we find other ways to make healthy eating fun we should be okay.
2. Let Your Kid Feel Like They Are Being Grown-Up
Annabel taught me very quickly that kids like to be self sufficient. The second she understood she could use utensils she decided she was done letting me spoon feed her. If I tried, she would firmly say, “Annie do it!” and grab the spoon. At first I was annoyed – especially considering the mess she made when she fed herself – but then I realized I could use this to my advantage. Mwahahaha!!! I started giving Annie a spoon and a bowl of healthy food – like mashed sweat potato or steamed carrots – and let her at it. She was so excited to be able to feed herself like a big kid that she ate every last bite.
“Annie do it!”
This trick still works with a little alteration. Annie will eat anything – even veggies many adults still struggle with – as long as you give her a personal bowl of salsa to dip it in. ‘Cause dipping is for big kids, y’all.
3. Treat All Foods The Same
Remember when our parents told us we had to eat all our vegetables or we couldn’t leave the table? I do, and it made me see veggies as bad and different than other food (after all, my parents never had to threaten me to finish my chocolate cake). To avoid making that same mistake, Heather and I do our best not to treat healthy foods any differently than we treat not-so-healthy foods. We hand Annie a piece of celery in the same way we hand her a cookie, and so far she has no idea that some people don’t think veggies are fun to eat!
These tricks have been working great for us with Annie. Here’s hoping they work at least a bit longer before our little Terminator catches on to us. What tricks do you have that keep your little Terminators eating well?
Aubrey says:
I have been fairly lucky when it comes to my kids eating healthy. My son’s snack of choice as a toddler? Popeye brand fresh spinach leaves. People would crack up when they saw him eating out of the bag like potato chips. I have always tried to let the kids make their own assumptions as to what they like and don’t like. I don’t push my likes or dislikes on them. I let them try everything on the buffet if we go to one. Still my kids would much rather eat a carrot, or a tomato or an orange than a piece of candy.
You are doing a great job teaching Annie healthy habits. She will grow up loving veggies and fruit.
Bec says:
Great tips! We have learned that involving our kids in decisions really helps. They get to pick out what kind of apples or grapes, and they can help decide what kind of veggie side dish we have with dinner. It also helps when we have them help us make dinner. If they helped cook it, they will almost always eat it.
aqua6 says:
Totally agree with the first two comments — offering a wide variety of vegetables as part of every meal has helped. Having a garden has also helped. She was two years old, eating peas off the vine with no hands — just mouth up to the plants.
We also avoid assuming, “You won’t like this” — because how could we know that before she tastes it?
One big key that helped us was putting as much effort into cooking vegetables as we do other dishes, not just throwing something on a plate at the end. If it has flavor, she will eat it!
Lindsey says:
Boy, been too long ago to remember but I well remember how my first daughter was SOOO picky about food and I thought there was something I was doing wrong til daughter number two came along and would eat ANYTHING!! so it made me realize that personality has a lot to do with it…….mind if I give you a Hidden Valley Ranch recipe I made up and which my daughter number two’s boyfriend loves so we call it ….
ERIC Chicken
Mix an envelope of HVR dressing, a can of cream of chicken soup and an 8 oz container of sour cream and pour over 4 or 5 chicken breasts — oven for about 20 or 30 min and serve over rice.
Leslie says:
My Emily will be 4 next month and she is JUST in the last month balking at foods…mwahahahahah! My secret has been safe until…preschool. Total peer pressure to be picky. I do the same stuff you are doing and it has worked wonders. She really thinks beets and peppers are the same as chips and cookies, still. Also, i take her down the veggie aisle and let her pick them out. She is way more into things she bagged herself! Oh last thing, when she’s old enough to be excited about rainbows, make a point to try to eat a rainbow every day…she’ll be begging for yellow squash or orange pepper to finish the day strong!