Getting the right nutrition and a balanced diet into a picky-eating child is a challenge many parents have had to endure. Making mealtimes fun and adventurous are the keys to making your picky eater become a foodie – with a lot of patience for good measure!

This article gives some tips for getting picky eaters to love their food and making mealtimes a lot more enjoyable to boot!

Make food an adventure!

Although children may have a favorite few toys, their excitement at playtime comes from various new activities and experiences. Although it may seem a pipe dream with a picky eater, mealtimes should be no different. With a creative approach, you can add all kinds of variety to your picky eater’s plate.

One of the first ways to change your fussy eater’s mindset is to fill his or her plate with a variety of different tastes, textures, and colors. Chat about them and cut them up into bite-size pieces. Talk about the colors of everything and which is their favorite. 

Textures can also be made fun of. Smooth, mashed, and finely chopped can all be fun and encourage children to try things in smaller quantities. A few fun sauces such as natural guacamole or salsa can also add something new to kids’ meals.

Take different approaches

Most parents have had to try different approaches to get children to eat certain things from time to time. Some of the most common tactics are to make sure your child sees you taking a bite first to encourage them to do the same. Tell them how much you like it.

Also, try arranging their meal with different shapes and patterns. Faces are always popular, but encourage them to try to make some shapes and pictures with their food before they tuck in. Eating the grass can be more interesting than eating peas, for example!

Keep it small, and give a variety. Provide a range of colors and shapes for them to try. Mixing some new varieties of vegetables or foods they have not tried before with one of their favorites is always a winner. Swap out the fries from the chicken nuggets and try sweet potato cubes instead. 

Involve them in the menu

Get your little foodies involved in meal planning. From the time you are in-store or buying your groceries online, bring them on the journey with you. Show them pictures of the products themselves and ask them what they would most like to try. If they shun it when it comes to mealtime, remind them it is what they chose and that they should not miss out!

Draw up a menu plan and write it on a chalkboard or stick it to the fridge. Show them the plan and try to build up some excitement ahead of mealtimes.

You can also combine some food planning with geography. For example, if you have curry, talk about India and show them what people from India like to do and how they live. This can help bring food to life and make it more interesting and educational. 

Wrapping up

Getting picky eaters to eat a balanced and nourishing diet is not easy. Parents the world over face this challenge every day! Try these approaches and be persistent, and your little one will be on a new food adventure before you know it!