7 Ways For Making Your Kids Enjoy Their Vegetables

A question I get a lot from young parents is how they can get their kids to eat or even like vegetables. Through experience and reading I have collected a lot of helpful information and tips I am happy to share with you. Enjoy!

Start early and don’t give up

It is best to start feeding your children vegetables as soon as they are off baby food. I warn you, this will not be a great success from day one and asks for persistence. As a parent you should keep giving your kids food they rejected before, even if it’s the sixteenth time you are trying. Why? Because kids’ taste buds need training. They are much more sensitive than those of adults, which makes them dislike bitter flavors like e.g. spinach. The problem is that most parents give up too soon instead of taking an “I don’t want it” for an “I don’t want it yet”. By the way, limiting their sugar intake can help your kids develop a more balanced taste.

Take it easy

There is no use in being pushy. The more you make a deal of it, the more it will become a power struggle. Make dinner time fun instead of forcing your kid into something they don’t like. It is so much easier and more pleasant to make the transition into eating vegetables a smooth one. This does not only mean that you shouldn’t punish children for not eating certain types of food, but you should also shy away from rewarding them for trying a certain vegetable. In doing this, you are making a fuzz about it and that is exactly what we want to avoid. A more subtle way to lead your kids in the right direction would be to serve raw veggies with dipping sauce as starters, while you are preparing the rest of the meal. Do this when they are really hungry and you might be surprised at the outcome!

Presentation is everything

Food that looks good, tastes better. Don’t just throw some overcooked vegetables on a plate, but tickle your kids’ imagination by playing around with colors, shapes, textures and cooking methods. Just cutting your veggies in interesting shapes like triangles, circles, sticks and cubes can make them look interesting enough to try. If you want to take things a bit further, you can always put the vegetables on in the shape of a smiling face or buy tiny vegetables like baby carrots or baby corn. But mind, not only visual presentation counts. It also helps when you give vegetables special names. Carrots, for example, could become “Goblin walking sticks”. Try to come up with something that connects with your child’s interests.

Get them involved

I cannot stress this enough: involvement is crucial to get your kids into really liking, not only eating, a wide range of veggies. This involvement can take different forms. A first step would be to take your child out shopping for groceries. By asking questions like “shall we pick sweet peas or beans”, you give your kid the illusion of being a decision maker. When you get home after shopping, let him or her carry, unpack and wash the vegetables. Even very young children are able to assist in the process of preparing the meal too. They generally enjoy things like making sandwiches or decorating pizzas. At the bottom of this article, I will share my favorite healthy children’s cookbooks with you. The next step would be to grow a small vegetable garden and let your children help taking care of it. For those of you with less space, a simple cherry tomato plant in a pot can be as effective.

Set an example

If you are not much of a vegetable lover yourself, how can you expect your kid to become one? Maybe it is time to change your own eating habits and that of your partner, as research has shown this has a huge impact on your kid’s preferences too. Simply show them you enjoy a variety of vegetables and eat them with delight. Pick rejected vegetables from their plate and show them how delicious these can be. You might even want to exaggerate your servings. Another good idea I got from a friend is to have other kids over for dinner. You talk to their parents and ask about what vegetables their child adores. The simple fact of the other kid eating those vegetables at the table, will encourage your son or daughter to do so too.

Camouflage

Sometimes, involvement and a good story are just not enough. That’s when the technique of camouflage comes in handy. It is pretty straightforward, you just hide the vegetables’ appearance and/or taste. The classic way of doing this, is to mash the vegetables or cut them into microscopic pieces and serve them with food your child already likes, like soups, sauces, omelets, spaghetti, lasagna or casserole dishes. To simply mask the taste of raw and cooked vegetables as a side dish, add some dipping sauce, like ranch dressing.

Variation

I like all vegetables, but I realize that I’m an exception. Still, there is such variety on the market that it would be stupid not to take advantage of this supply. While initially you can focus on sweeter vegetables like sweet peas or tomatoes, don’t be afraid to experiment with varieties you have never tasted before yourself. There are so many ways to prepare vegetables. You can serve them raw, steamed, mashed, grilled or stir-fried. Different preparing methods result in different tasting veggies. Frequently, kids have an issue with a certain texture rather than taste. Many children don’t like overcooked vegetables. But honestly, do you?

The single best piece of advice I have to offer is to never give up. This doesn’t mean you have to force your kid into eating anything they don’t like. This article gives you enough tips to do it in a more subtle and refined manner. Don’t expect miracles to happen, but take it step by step. Slow and steady wins the race!