10 ways to get your child to eat more veg!
10 ways to get your child to eat more veg!
‘My child won’t eat veg’
If I had a carrot for every time a parent said that to me - I’d be able to feed thousands! Toddlers don’t eat veg, children don’t eat veg - it’s so common. What do you do if your child won’t eat vegetables?
Here’s 10 simple ways to encourage your children to eat vegetables:
encourage them to feel, smell and listen to raw vegetables. Getting them involved like this helps to break down the fear around vegetables. Is it hot or cold, wet or dry, soft or hard?
let them help with cooking - this is the single most effective way to help children get over their fear of vegetables. They may not always eat what they help to cook but they will have had a positive experience preparing the food (hopefully!) - again helping to break down the fear. You’ll need the safe knives and peelers we sell for this.
bring them shopping with you and allow them to choose the vegetable for that day. eg. tonight - do you want broccoli or peas for dinner? This helps empower them and gives them some ownership over their decision.
model encouraging behaviour around vegetables. I know that sounds daft but if you treat vegetables as if they are the most delicious and precious thing ever , they will pick up on this eg.’ I’m going to have some of these delicious peas now - I’m not sure if I’m going to share …they are too delicious … oh ok you can have one….’
grow veggies together - there is nothing like the joy and excitement of watching your tomatoes ripen or your carrot leaves peek above the ground ! Kids love growing food, in my experience and can be more open to trying them after.
don’t force them to eat anything, ever. But what you can do is encourage them (gently) to lick a vegetable they don’t like - this is a great first step in getting them to eat it. Again, you’re breaking down that fear as they know they don’t have to actually eat the food.
the next step after licking is spitting (!!!). I know this sounds disgusting but you can make it fun - do it away from the table if you want, rather than at meal times. Again, this is helping to break down the fear your child has of actually eating the vegetable. You’re encouraging them to explore and get familiar with the food. Things you can do : see how far you can spit your broccoli, see how squirty a tomato is
allow them to play with real food away from the table. If they have a play kitchen, give them some potatoes and carrots to play with rather than fake food. Again, breaking down that fear.
Make food fun! We’re all about making food fun at The Cool Food School - we play with food, we chop and peel it, we do food art, we examine food with a magnifying glass, we make it exciting!
Repeated exposure to the vegetable is key. Present the food at dinner, in different recipes, present it through cooking, through shopping for that food, through growing it or through play. A child needs to be exposed to a new food anything from 7-20 times in order to accept it.
Found these tips useful? Check out my free webinar on ‘Creating veg-loving kids’ here.