As a parent you want to do everything that you can to make sure that your children are healthy. You get them running around every day, you get them eating fruits after sports and drinking as much water as possible. One of the hardest things to do, however, is instill a love of vegetables in children who really don’t want to love any vegetables. Children are resilient, and that means they are constantly saying no and pushing back where they can so that they can exert some control over their own small lives.
Whether you are buying organic food or frozen veggies, children will always try to say no to new things. There’s a lot that goes on in the mind of a child when it comes to trying new foods, and one of the biggest things is fear. For example, if a child once had a blueberry that was slightly sour, they will assume all blueberries taste the same. Therefore, they won’t try anymore of those blueberries in case they get another sour one. You may love all the vegetables in the world, but that doesn’t mean that your child is going to. With this in mind, here are some tips to get vegetables for your children.
Make it fun. If you’re putting vegetables on your Child’s dinner plate and they always get left behind, think about the way you are serving them. Fruit in the form of sticks or slices with chocolate or toffee dips are always far more fun than just eating an apple. Apply the same logic to vegetables and slice them up and serve them with dips. Most of the time, organic Mayo and some seasoned salt can help your children to feel that vegetables are much more exciting because they don’t taste so bland. When something is exciting then it’s easier.
Use them for snack time. Carrot sticks, pepper sticks, cucumber slices, all of these foods can be used as excellent snacks. Bell Peppers and celery dipped into houmous, and tzatziki are delicious, and if you are packing snacks for your children make sure you are adding vegetables to the list.
Sneak them in. Children may be resilient, and they may have eyes like a hawk, but they are not going to notice when you make your homemade ketchup if they sneak vegetables into them. You can blend up cauliflowers, zucchinis, squash, spinach and broccoli and add them to soups, sauces and stews. If your kids love Nacho night with dip and chili con carne on the side, blend up those vegetables and add them to your chili con carne sauce. Sneaking in vegetables is not dishonest, because you are giving them the nourishment they need.
Get them to help you grow them. Sometimes it can help for children to understand where their food is coming from. If you create a vegetable garden outside and have your children help you to plant, grow and cut the vegetables down, they will be much happier and more willing to taste them. Seeing the full life cycle of vegetables can help to get children interested in them.
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