This post was brought to you by Juice Plus+. As always, all opinions are 100% my own.
Some parents are plagued by their kids being picky eaters. My sister was is a picky eater to this day. Her favorite things consist of chicken nuggets and french fries, nothing green and pretty much nothing good for her. I honestly think the key to raising kids with a good taste for all food is starting them early on everything. When finger foods come into play, don’t hold back. Let your kids eat everything you eat and then some. Just because you don’t like a certain food, doesn’t mean your kids won’t, they may love it. Don’t tell them you don’t like it either, that won’t help your cause.
Make their food fun. I mean, who doesn’t love a plate of food made to look like the house from Up? If you need some inspiration you should follow idafrosk or check out my Bento Box board on Pinterest.
Follow Meghan Cooper @JaMonkey’s board Bento Boxes on Pinterest.
Implement the “Green Eggs and Ham” method. They have to try as least one bite before saying they don’t like it. This is a major key in the picky eater success. 85% of the time they like what it is…a lot. I don’t expect my kids to love everything they have ever tried, I know I don’t.
Every now and then though I find myself trying to get them to eat their vegetables as I watch them being pushed around the plate. This is when I make sure to sprinkle on some Juice Plus+ to help them out. Try sprinkling the avocado with the Orchard blend and you might be surprised at how much they like it. This is an idea I got from Dr. Bill Sears during our Google Hangout with him and his son Dr. Jim Sears (The Doctors). Juice Plus+ is especially good for those super picky eaters (like my sister) that won’t touch anything green. It’s by no means a replacement for getting the real thing but sometimes a supplement is better than nothing.
Fruit and vegetables pack so many great nutrients and antioxidants that help keep our bodies strong and going. We like having the added boost and no longer have to take regular vitamins because we are getting the same thing just from fruits and vegetables. A friend of mine told me about something she does with her kids and I absolutely loved the idea. I’m hoping to start doing a web series about it on a new YouTube channel all about Foodie Kids. She takes her children to the international farmers market and lets them pick out something new and in season that they haven’t tasted before. Something like a Star fruit or a whole coconut. Then they go home and try it raw first, after they have tried it they try and find a great recipe to make with the new fruit or vegetable. It’s a genius way to get kids interested in new foods and cooking.
Another great way to get kids interested in their food is by letting them plant a garden. Even if you can’t have a big garden, container gardens allow kids to grow something themselves from start to finish. It’s an amazing learning experience as well. I wish every school in America had a garden for kids to grow their own food and had their own farm to table experience.
[Tweet “Every school in America should have a garden for kids to have a farm to table experience @LetsMove”]
Here are some tips for picky eaters from Dr. Bill and Jim Sears.
What are some of the ways you get your picky eaters to try new foods or just eat their vegetables?
