Ideas For Getting Kids To Eat Vegetables
Ideas for getting kids to eat vegetables are never enough, as for many parents it’s a challenge to get their kids to eat them. So, thinking about the daily struggle of many homes, let’s give easy tips so that, finally, our children leave the plate clean and stop being reluctant to eat vegetables.
The first thing you should know is that if you force children to eat vegetables, you will only make them reject them even more and link the action to a type of punishment.
You should understand that it should be a gradual process, until little by little they become familiar with what these foods look like, as well as their textures and flavors.
The trick to succeeding, without a lot of effort, is knowing how to disguise the vegetables so that our children consume them without realizing it or, at any rate, in a way that they feel empathy when doing so. In other words, subtlety is most commendable.
Ideas for getting kids to eat vegetables
As mentioned at the beginning, the objective of disguising the presence of vegetables is in the gradual introduction of vegetables. In this way, we can make children better assimilate the flavor, until they reach the point of eating a vegetable dish directly. Take note of the proposals below.
Vegetable and crouton creams
In all children’s recipe guides, you’ll find vegetable creams as the first choice. It happens that, without a doubt, with this type of preparation, the vegetables go unnoticed. The most recommended creams are those with a sweeter taste, such as zucchini, corn, pumpkin, chard and potatoes.
Accompanied with sour cream, cream cheese and croutons, they will be delicious. Don’t forget that when dishes are fun, our children eat them with more enthusiasm. So, before serving, you can decorate the soup with a smile made of croutons.
Make fun presentations with vegetables
Children love dishes with presentations in which striking colors predominate; such as red, yellow or green, as well as any shape that is fun for them; such as faces, animal shapes, airplanes or whatever else you can imagine.
This will allow eating time to be a playful time in which you can also tell stories that induce them to eat in a more lively way.
Just as our parents encouraged us with stories of how Popeye grew into a strong man after eating spinach, you can also associate the picture of vegetables you made for your son with his favorite superhero.
Healthy fast food or with extra vegetables
A good opportunity to make children eat vegetables is to prepare fast food recipes at home; such as pizzas or hamburgers, but including many vegetables. The child will not be able to resist the temptation to eat his favorite dish. And if you disguise the ingredients well, she certainly won’t notice that it’s full of vegetables.
The recommendations include replacing the sausages in the pizzas with vegetables, as well as preparing hamburgers and placing, between the layers of bread, mushrooms, tomato and finely chopped lettuce. This way, the presence of these foods will be practically imperceptible.
teach by example
It is important that our children see us consuming lots of vegetables, and also fruits. Children always tend to copy their parents’ attitudes and ways of behaving.
If they notice that they consume vegetables frequently, they will feel a great interest and curiosity to try what their parents are so eager to eat. So try to tease them and describe in detail each of the flavors you are experiencing when tasting them.
Finally, try to make the vegetables look attractive from a child’s point of view, not yours.
On the other hand, keep in mind that cooked vegetables will not taste the same as au gratin or sautéed vegetables. So, if your child likes cheese, gratin vegetables. You can also bread or add the ingredients and flavors he likes best.
