It can be really tough to prepare healthy food for your family only to be met with a cranky face from your little one.
As children grow older they become more assertive with their tastes, and like to also feel as though they have some control over their lives.
So if you have been on the receiving end of a flying plate of pasta, you might find some of these tips helpful to encourage your kids to expand their tastes.
Plus check out some of our favourite kid-friendly recipes below.
Tips for encouraging fussy eaters:
- Use the rule ‘you don’t have to like it but you do have to try it’ – let them know that they need to at least take a bite before they decide whether they aren’t going to eat something
- Get the kids involved from the beginning – choosing a recipe, finding the ingredients at the supermarket, stirring and whisking – whatever you can do to get them to buy into the meal can really help
- Offer older kids the chance to choose the meal one night per week (from your healthy selection of course).
- Teach older kids to encourage younger ones by leading by example and trying new flavours
- Remember not to let them fill up on drinks before or during their meal
- Find things that they do like and make variations of them. For instance if they love burgers – make patties, fritters, fish cakes, etc as they have a similar look and feel.
- Offer alternatives from each food group – if your child doesn’t like yoghurt for instance, be sure to offer milk or cheese regularly
- If you feel as though the fussiness could be hunger related (for instance if they’ll eat a lot one day but be picky the next day) you could try reducing the size of their morning and afternoon tea to see if that helps
- Try to offer varied tastes and textures – kids are visual creatures so use crinkle cutters and cookie cutter shapes to make ordinary foods fun.
- If the child is fussing at the table and you think they have eaten all they will eat, you can take away their plate but try not to give in to offering snacks later
Some of our top kids picks for fussy eaters
Classic Beef Burgers - Coconut Chicken Burgers (pictured)
- Tuna Fish Cakes
- Spinach and Chickpea Burgers
- Sweet Corn Fritters
- Super Saucy Bolognese
- Bobotie
- Lamb and Feta Meatballs
- Easy Cheesy Fish Pie
- Healthy Shepherd’s Pie
- Pesto, Spinach and Ricotta Rolls
- Peanut Butter and Chicken Noodles
- Chicken Pad Thai
- Prawn Dumplings
Classic Beef BurgersNeed more kid-friendly recipes? Our Summer Cookbook has a whole section dedicated to little people and you can view or buy the book here.
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