How to Get Kids to Try New Foods
Serve more hands-on food: Let’s face it—kids prefer to eat with their hands., Give fun, creative names to everyday nutritious foods., Provide dipping sauces., Play "nutrition school"., Grow your own food.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Serve more hands-on food: Let’s face it—kids prefer to eat with their hands.
Finger foods make ideal meals for kids since you can combine a variety of small portions on one plate.
Try partnering protein-packed Tyson® 100% All Natural Chicken Nuggets with vitamin-rich green beans and complex carbohydrate-rich pasta for a mouth-watering, nutritious meal that’s easy to eat with little hands.
What looks like fun to your child is a well-balanced meal that you can feel good about serving.
Muffin Tin Meals:
Set up a “finger food buffet” and have your kids pick the items they’d like eat.
Start with a muffin tin (or any small container with compartments) and customize the meal by filling the sections with bite-size portions of colorful, nutritious foods.
Some great food ideas include: cubed cheese, whole grain cereals, grapes, sugar snap peas, baby carrots, and cherry tomatoes.
Once you’ve filled the compartments, let them pick their items, allowing them to be hands-on with their meal. -
Step 2: Give fun
According to a 2009 Cornell University study, when kids were offered “X-ray vision carrots” instead of plain carrots, they ate 62 percent more carrots .
Try adopting this approach in your own house by giving silly names to a variety of foods, such as “cloud fluff” for mashed potatoes or “cheese in the trees” for broccoli florets topped with cheese. , At mealtime, fill bowls with dipping sauces (i.e ranch dressing, ketchup, or honey) and put them in the middle of the table or give them to your child. , Make if fun and educational for kids to learn about nutrition by asking them to figure out how many pieces of fruit or veggies make up a serving.
Show them the label, and then have "lunch time" once they have figured out how much they need to eat. , Children love running outside to check on what's growing, and they're more likely to eat something if they have grown it/watched it grow. -
Step 3: creative names to everyday nutritious foods.
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Step 4: Provide dipping sauces.
-
Step 5: Play "nutrition school".
-
Step 6: Grow your own food.
Detailed Guide
Finger foods make ideal meals for kids since you can combine a variety of small portions on one plate.
Try partnering protein-packed Tyson® 100% All Natural Chicken Nuggets with vitamin-rich green beans and complex carbohydrate-rich pasta for a mouth-watering, nutritious meal that’s easy to eat with little hands.
What looks like fun to your child is a well-balanced meal that you can feel good about serving.
Muffin Tin Meals:
Set up a “finger food buffet” and have your kids pick the items they’d like eat.
Start with a muffin tin (or any small container with compartments) and customize the meal by filling the sections with bite-size portions of colorful, nutritious foods.
Some great food ideas include: cubed cheese, whole grain cereals, grapes, sugar snap peas, baby carrots, and cherry tomatoes.
Once you’ve filled the compartments, let them pick their items, allowing them to be hands-on with their meal.
According to a 2009 Cornell University study, when kids were offered “X-ray vision carrots” instead of plain carrots, they ate 62 percent more carrots .
Try adopting this approach in your own house by giving silly names to a variety of foods, such as “cloud fluff” for mashed potatoes or “cheese in the trees” for broccoli florets topped with cheese. , At mealtime, fill bowls with dipping sauces (i.e ranch dressing, ketchup, or honey) and put them in the middle of the table or give them to your child. , Make if fun and educational for kids to learn about nutrition by asking them to figure out how many pieces of fruit or veggies make up a serving.
Show them the label, and then have "lunch time" once they have figured out how much they need to eat. , Children love running outside to check on what's growing, and they're more likely to eat something if they have grown it/watched it grow.
About the Author
Beverly Jones
Creates helpful guides on pet care to inspire and educate readers.
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