Dealing with Picky Eaters

This was taken from an online article. We thought it would be helpful to parents to share.

If your child is a picky eater, you can try some of these tips:
Use props
• Use wacky, disposable straws, fun sippy cups, or colorful spoons and forks at meals.
• Help children make their own placemats. Have them draw and/or color some of their favorite nutritious foods on a piece of paper, then laminate it for use during meals and snacks.

Get creative
• Use cookie cutters to cut food into fun shapes
• Make “fun face” sandwiches, using an English muffin or a pita as the face and fruits and vegetables for features.
• Give the meal a fun name. “Superman’s Super Supper”
• Serve age-appropriate foods and serving sizes. Young children have small stomachs. Keep in mind their servings are generally 1/4 to 1/2 of an adult serving. If too much is put on the plate, the child may become overwhelmed.
• Make meals colorful. Let kids make a rainbow on their plate! This is a fun way to assure a variety of nutrients.

Get Children Involved
• Let children help with meal preparation. Using chef’s hats and aprons makes it even more fun. Remember to keep safety in mind.
• Include children in menu planning. At mealtime, recognize them for helping select the food.
Think outside the box
• Have a pretend restaurant or tea party. Let the child take your order and serve the food.
• Nourish children with books on nutrition.
• Let children become food detectives and investigate nutrition clues on food labels.
• Sing songs about food and nutrition.

Disguise food
• Sneak in veggies. Mix spinach, grated carrots or mashed peas into ground meat for hamburgers or spaghetti sauce. Use veggies as pizza toppings. Add diced cabbage and broccoli to lasagna. And just think of all the veggies you can hide in a stew or soup!
• Make fruit “smoothies” for snacktime.

http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/article_view.aspx?ArticleID=272