Get Your Kids to Eat Their Greens Using these Foolproof Tricks

One of the toughest battles parents face at meal time is watching their child ignore their greens. We get it; greens have a bad rap and for many kids, they aren’t the most appetizing thing to see on the plate; they’re green, bland, and gross! As any concerned and caring parent knows, vegetables are essential sources of nutrients, minerals, and vitamins which can impact development and mental growth.

So, what’s a parent to do? We know how hard it can be to convince your child to eat their daily dose of greens, but it doesn’t have to be. Vegetables come in a wide variety of types, shapes, sizes, and colors and packed with essential nutrients that do the body good. We all know children are picky eaters, but with a bit of creativity and patience, your child will be loving their vegetables in no time.

Slowly Introduce Vegetables into their Meals

Chop up the vegetables into small pieces and either sprinkle them on top or hide them inside their meal. Forcing them to eat vegetables is an outright disaster and a big no-no. In fact, it will cause them to resent it all together and that’s not what you want to happen. Instead, be patient and allow your child to eat them without even realizing they are there.

Smoothies

Children love smoothies; they’re colorful and sweet and they’re the perfect disguise to add in vegetables. Your child won’t know the difference if you add in vegetables to the mix. It’s better to focus on adding fruits for that extra vitamin kick.

Who doesn’t love low-fat yogurt, strawberry, banana, and a tinge of kale smoothie?

Create Edible Works of Art

Be crafty. This feat might be a bit time consuming, but one of the best ways to trick your child into eating their vegetables is to make it fun. Try your hand at creating fun masterpieces for your child to eat, using slices of ham, fat-free chicken breasts, low-fat cheese, tomatoes, carrots, and broccoli to create a meal your child will love.

Cheese (Fat-free or low-fat cheese)

Cloak the vegetables in cheese. Make sure it’s fat-free cheese or low-fat cheese. No child can resist the temptation of gooey cheese.

Praise Your Child

One of the best possible ways to help your child eat their greens is by praising them. Try praising them every time they eat a piece. Positive reinforcements work well with children because they enjoy getting praised for something they did correctly. The more praise they receive, the more likely they’ll continue to do it. They’ll associate eating vegetables with getting the thumb’s up from you and that’s a good thing.

In the event they don’t eat their vegetables, don’t get angry; try to talk it out with them and encourage them to eat. However, in case they become stubborn, don’t force it. Instead, try again on another day; it takes at least ten to twenty tries for your child to open up.

Give Your Child Options

It’s never fun to focus on one type of vegetable; try to change it up during mealtime. As mentioned above, vegetables come in a broad spectrum of types, shapes, sizes, and colors and no vegetable tastes alike. They hate fresh broccoli? Try steamed instead.

You can always experiment by testing whether they like fresh or steamed vegetables. Sometimes, fresh vegetables are too solid for their baby teeth to cut through. Other times, they won’t like something because the vegetable’s color is unattractive or the texture is not right.

Make A Story Out of It

Children love storytelling and you should capitalize on it. During storytime, you can tell your child their favorite character or hero loves eating vegetables to get stronger and fight off evil-doers or save the princess.

For example, you can reference the cartoon, Popeye. Whenever he’s in a pinch, he grabs a can of spinach, eats it, becomes super strong, and saves the day. How about using Bugs Bunny? This iconic character is a bonafide carrot lover. Tell your child Bugs Bunny is tall because of the carrots he eats. What about Wolverine? What makes him strong? His secret to having super strength is from drinking lots of fresh milk every morning.

Go Vegetable & Fruit Shopping with Them

Another great way to help your child onto the vegetable bandwagon is to bring them along during grocery sprees. Give your child the choice to pick up vegetables and fruits of their choosing and each time they choose an item, praise them for a job well done.

Once groceries are done, invite them into the kitchen and allow them to help you prepare the meal. It’s a great way to bond with your child and, moreover, teach them about the importance of balanced and healthy meals.

Be a Positive Role Model

Children will mimic adults and what better way to help them eat vegetables than by eating them yourself? Show your children your love for these greens. You love beans, broccoli, bok choy, and spinach? Go for it! Show your child these vegetables aren’t as horrible as your child makes them out to be. In fact, during meal time, you can educate your child about the goodness of these greens, too.

Fruit Snacks

Children love sugar-based candies and chocolate but eating too much of them at a young age is harmful to their health, especially their teeth and blood sugar levels. Let’s change that to giving them fruit snacks whenever they crave sugar. They might protest but it’s a sure way to encourage your child to get their sugar from fruits, not manufactured sweets.

If your child isn’t too fond of fruit snacks, try changing it up. You can try to create frozen fruit popsicles and give them to your child when they crave something sugary.

Wrapping Up

Children need time to open up to the possibilities of eating their vegetables and fruits. While some children are easily convinced, others might take more time to become accustomed to vegetables. It’s all about patience and giving your child room to learn about these healthy morsels. The more you put in the effort to educate your child about the benefits of fruits and vegetables, the more your child will begin to understand them and incorporate them into their day-to-day life. There’s no rush in forcing the issue; give your child room to learn and explore and before you know it, they’ll develop a passion for greens in no time!

Good luck!