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Every child has different tastes and food preferences. Most of them develop an aversion towards greens. With the various fast food options widely available these days, a majority of children show a preference towards unhealthier food items like fries, pizzas, burgers, hot dogs, nuggets, and other types of junk foods. This is why getting a 5 year old child to eat vegetables is not an easy task for any parent. It requires a lot of creativity, persistence, patience, as well as good modeling. There are two ways in which you can encourage your child to eat more fresh vegetables.
The first step is getting your child involved in preparing the food, right from gardening, harvesting, choosing, cleaning, and even cooking the vegetables. Children are normally more inclined to taste and finish food items that they believe they prepared. The other way through which you can get your son to eat his vegetables is by making them appear more attractive. There are a few tricks and tips that can encourage your son to eat vegetables on a regular basis. In fact you can even get your son ask for more vegetables, by trying the following vegetables kids love:
- Broccoli: Refer to broccoli as dinosaur trees! Cut the broccoli into medium pieces, so that they resemble treetops. You can steam or stir fry the broccoli, based on your son’s preference. Let him make believe that he is a dinosaur that can gobble up an entire tree in one go. Ask him to count how many trees he can eat.
- Frozen peas: Your son may resist eating regular, cooked peas, but the novelty of eating cold and frozen peas can make it fun for him. There is no work involved in preparing this. All you need to do is wash a handful of peas, put them into a bowl and serve it to him.
- Kale Chips: Which child can say no to chips? Kale chips are no exception. Kale is packed with nutrition and is very easy to prepare. Cut the kale leaves into bite-sized pieces. Wash the leaves thoroughly and dry them. Drizzle the kale leaves with some olive oil and season them with salt, before baking the leaves in a preheated oven. Bake the leaves, till the edges get brown, but don’t burn.
- Zucchini fritters: Zucchini muffins are quite a popular snack with many children. However, you can avoid giving your son the extra sugar, by making zucchini fritters, using zucchini, olive oil, eggs, herbs, flour, cheese, and a little salt. You can also replace zucchini with eggplant, carrots, and other healthy vegetables.
Other ways of disguising vegetables, is by chopping them into fine pieces and adding them to dishes like lasagna, soup, pizza toppings, and other dishes. Vegetables can be blended into homemade marinara sauce and added to spaghetti. These tips should encourage your son to eat his vegetables.
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