5 Tips for Getting Kids to Try New Foods
This post was sponsored by
SKIPPY® Peanut Butter and Kroger Co.
All opinions expressed in the post are my own.
Let’s talk picky eaters. Who’s got one (or two or three)?
Ava was always picky and honestly, terrible at eating real food. I breastfeed her for 2 years and she would’ve lived on my boob if I let her. During that time, she rarely ate food. We’d try and we’d stress over it but she just wasn’t a fan of food... ever. Franky, on the other hand, ate like a champ right at six months when we introduced him to solid and while he still has his days, of course, overall he’s pretty good about eating meals.
And I’m so happy to be able to say that Ava’s made a complete 360 over the past 6 months or so not only with eating full meals, but trying new foods. This girl will try almost anything and gosh it’s so refreshing to finally have gotten to this point.
Just like Franky (and every other kid), we have our days still but overall, she sure has come a long way in the food department.
So here are my tips to getting your kids, your picky eaters to try new foods and to eat!
1. Turn food into shapes.
When I first tried this, it was like magic was happening in front of my eyes! I’d made a SKIPPY® Peanut Butter and jelly sandwich many times before with her not taking a single bite but this particular day I used a cookie cutter to turn it into a star and you’ll never guess what happened...
She ate the entire sandwich and asked for another! And yes, she ate the entire second sandwich too! So now I give Ava star-shaped sandwiches which she scarfs down consistently and so that the ends don’t go to waste, I turn them into little triangles for Franky... or eat it myself!
Now if you want to try that trick yourself, then snag yourself some fun cookie cutters, bread, jelly and some SKIPPY® Peanut Butter at your local Kroger and you’re well on your way to a 2-sandwiches-for-lunch eater too ;)
2. Mix Wholesome with Sweet
Make a super easy kids charcuterie board with veggies, crackers, peanut butter for dipping and even some chocolate chips thrown in there, put peanut butter on top of celery and top it with raisins or chocolate chips, or make fun little faces with crackers, SKIPPY® Peanut Butter and the same chocolate chips or raisins for eyes and bananas for the mouth! I remember making “ants on a boat” (celery with peanut butter and raisins) and pretending they were little boats for make believe and of course, a delicious little snack or side.
And that leads me to my next tip…
3. Play make believe with food.
Whether you’re making “boats” or “smiley faces” with their food or keeping it simple and turning the spoon into a vehicle, make believe is a way to make eating fun for the kids - and this can start young too!
With Franky, we make airplane sounds to fly his food into his mouth and when Ava’s not in much of an eating mood, we let her tell us what she wants to pretend the spoon or fork is — an airplane, a helicopter, a race car or even animals making animal sounds as they approach her mouth. And it works every time.
4. The Monkey Chart
I know I’ve mentioned this little app we use before but it can be something as simple as a homemade sticker chart. This is one big way we’ve gotten Ava to try new foods —
Every time she tries a new food, she gets to add a monkey face to her chart. If she doesn’t like the food she’s, of course, allowed to spit it out. But she has to try a reasonable bite for it to count and it has to be a food she’s never tried — a new sauce, new dish, new combo of foods, etc. Once her chart is filled, she gets to pick out a toy! [Quick Tip: I filter the toys for her to search online to make sure they’re around $10-15 and under. She doesn’t get to pick out anything, of course.]
5. Have your kids make their own food!
This one is huge and I truly believe it makes a world of a difference for kids. Have them grow a vegetable garden with you and they’ll be proud to eat what they’ve grown or teach your kids to make their own sandwiches. They feel prideful for doing these things themselves and in the end, it makes them want to eat their food. Or at least this works for Ava!
So there you have it — my top 5 tips for getting kids to eat more (so us parents can stress less) or getting those kids who are picky eaters to try new foods!
Does anyone else have any great ideas that have worked in your home?
