Very challenging is feeding the kids when you’re a toddler’s parent. There are many difficulties, such as fussy eating and their short attention spans. Therefore, gaining their interest in food can become a never-ending fight. However, having a little creativity and being patient can help you change mealtime from a fight to an enjoyable moment, where your child not only gets the right nutrients but also you have quality time together. Read five practical tips to help your children enjoy their meals below.
1. Creating An Environment Where Mealtime Is Fun and Engaging
The first thing you can start with in order to ensure that your toddler enjoys eating is creating an inviting and interactive environment. Toddlers always like to explore and are more alive in an interactive environment. Some ways include:
- Set the table with the kid: Let colorful plates, bowls, and cutlery be used. Even the child’s favorite characters or themes could be the subject of funny placemats. The table’s bright colors will get your child’s attention and they will be happy to sit down.
- Develop games: Utilize games such as “guess the vegetable” or “food color scavenger hunt,” where your toddler can recognize and name the different foods on their plate. Through these games, you not only entertain your kid but also introduce the foods they are eating.
- Play music: The soft, joyful music playing in the background can create a positive mood and make you and the kids feel like it’s a fiesta. Please, don’t play loud music or music that is too distracting, as it will have the opposite effect.There are minor typos in phrases.
2. Offer a Variety of Fun, Colorful Foods
If you want, you can prepare a few attractive and good-looking meals for toddlers and children at your home. In this way, they will be more likely to have an extra appetite and to choose food from a variety of colorful ones. The trick is that by putting a decent selection of small portions of various good-for-you foods on the table, you will have their eyes bright with expectation of new and interesting tastes. The following are a few of them:
- Rainbow meals: A rainbow made up of fruits, vegetables, grains, and proteins would surely entice any child. In this way, you not only make the foodlook extraordinarily interesting, but also cultivate the daring nature in your child who would want to test and taste the products. For example, you may serve strawberries, blueberries, carrots, spinach, and rice in one meal.
- Mini-sized servings: Children will be more likely to eat food when it’s cut into small pieces. In order to get them interested in the food, take a fruit or a vegetable and slice it into manageable portions instead of giving them the whole fruit or vegetable. Besides cutting the food into small sizes, parents may use cookie cutters to produce some of the unique figures, e. g., stars, hearts, animals, etc.
- Dips and sauces: Children love to dip their food before they eat it. Parents can supply a great number of healthful and delicious sauces, such as hummus, guacamole, or yogurt. Thanks to these edible things, eating will no longer be passive but interactive. The kids might as well want to taste different combinations of food.
3. Encourage Your Toddler to “Help” with Meal Prep
Everyone loves to be a part of what’s going on around them, and so do the little ones. Not only does it bring families closer, but it is also one of the various things that can not only help to make children love the kitchen, but also to be smart, skillful managers. Thus, a child being given a chance to make a decision and carry out some tasks on his or her own can feel the gratification and take the initiative on his or her activity.
- Washing veggies: One appropriate tool that can be used by parents to involve kids indoors in cooking is water. This idea could be carried out either in the kitchen or outside, such as in the backyard. Most importantly, the child enjoys both the task and the game. Furthermore, water and the dirt or soil from fruits and vegetables go down the drain, thus, the kitchen can be kept clean and organized
- Stirring or mixing: When the dish is finished, let your little one assist you to stir or mix the food. Through this, independence is developed, and they will also not be distracted from eating.
- Setting the table: Let your child participate in setting the table by placing the plates, utensils, and cups. They may only be folding the napkins, even still, they will love the task of being mealtime helpers.
In cases where toddlers share in the meal preparation and are given a role, they demonstrate a preference for eating and are more open to trying new things.
4. Make Mealtime a Family Affair
Surely, one of the best ways to create nice meal moments for your toddler is to turn it into a family activity. Small kids are those who eat willingly when they observe the whole family eating merrily and thus find it enjoyable. Below are the ways in which you can have mealtime with fun:
- Family meals: Plan for at least one meal to be taken together as a family daily. It is not just the way to build a bond, but also gives a chance for your child to adopt a healthy eating habit as they observe their parents’ actions.
- Talk and laugh together: Interact by means of light conversation and make it a sharing and storytelling moment. If children notice that mealtime is a time for talking and laughing, they will be inclined to link the experience with pleasure.
- Establish a routine: Children from an early age up to their toddler years love and need a good structure in their lives, and mealtime is no exception. Determine consistent meal times and positively include your toddler in the process of it, and this will help them to easily understand about the flow of the day and get ready for it.
5. Keep It Stress-Free and Positive
Remember that creating a stress-free environment is the key to success during mealtime. Your toddlers can sense emotions and they can easily be affected by the way you react to particular situations. Here, we give you some suggestions to ensure that mealtime is peaceful and pleasant:
- Do not pressure them to eat: If your child is not really willing or does not want to eat, do not impose, it will only result in negative connotations with food.
- Do not pressure them to eat: If your little one is not hungry or is not willing to eat, do not push or else negative feelings about food can develop. Also, don’t do it again later.
- Compliment them for eating something new: Stay by your child’s side when they try or have a healthy meal, even if it’s a single bite. The positive reinforcement will make them want to try something else more.
- Be patient: A meal may be longer than you thought it would be, especially if your child is either playing with his food or getting distracted. Just be patient and let your child explore his food at their own pace.
