Monday, September 20, 2010

How to Make Your Children Like Vegetables

Today I am pleased to announce that I am featuring a guest post written by Laura of findnutritionsupplements.com. When she contacted me requesting that I feature her writing on my blog, I knew there was no doubt I would take her up on her offer when she told me the title: "How to Make Your Children Like Vegetables". Her theme fits perfectly with my ideals and what I write about, and I am honored that she asked to contribute a post. To learn more about Nutrition Supplements, go HERE. Thanks for listening!

How to Make Your Children Like Vegetables

Most children are “allergic” to vegetables, especially those vegetables that are packed with lots of nutritional benefits. So here are some hints on to how to make your kids like or if not, come to accept vegetables on their plates. If your kids are like mine, I’m sure they’ll be excited about this.

The beauty of vegetables

Associate each vegetable with a cartoon character or your kids’ favorite actors and tell them that so and so like this vegetable; for example if you want to be strong you must eat your spinach just like Popeye, and you will develop those muscles and will be able to fight all your enemies. Eating carrots will make you have beautiful eyes, and cabbage and broccoli will give you that beautiful skin. Every time you cook a vegetable, tell your kids a story about that vegetable and what benefits you can get from it, green vegetables will make you have beautiful, shiny long hair.

Start by being the role model

To get your kids to like and accept vegetables you must start giving them lots of veggies as toddlers, in their purees. Furthermore, let them see you eat vegetables, like we all know children copy from their parents; so if they see you eat and appreciating yours they will also follow in your step. What you eat and what you like to eat will definitely influence your kids’ likes. However if you rarely serve vegetables with meals or eat fruits, then it will be normal for your kids to develop the same tastes and it won’t come as a surprise if they grow up being “allergic” to vegetables. So, as your choices of foods determine your kids’ likes and dislikes, be very careful in planning your meals, make sure that there are at least two portions of vegetables to accompany each meal. And be persistent if they resist the vegetables, that is if you have cooked cauliflower and they didn’t eat, don’t think that you shouldn’t give them cauliflower again. On the contrary, let a few days pass, cook the cauliflower in a different style and see their reaction. Maybe if they don’t like stir-fry cauliflower it doesn’t mean that they won’t like a gratin of cauliflower, especially if it has an extra cheese spread.

Simple gardening

Another way to make your kids like veggies is to involve them, let them help you in the kitchen by peeling the potatoes, splitting the peas or grating the carrots. Or, even better, if you have a small plot of land, teach them how to plant and grow simple vegetables, like fine herbs, tomatoes, French beans, etc. While the kids are watching these vegetables grow and by telling them that they have been grown by them; they’ll sure take pride in eating those veggies.

So go ahead and see which of these hints can help you to make your kids eat and like their veggies. Good luck!
 

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2 comments:

  1. Each vegetable with a cartoon character or favorite players of their children and tell them that such and such things as vegetables, for example, if you want to be safe to eat spinach like Popeye, and you will develop muscles and capable to fight all your enemies.so after this Kid will have to their food is well.

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  2. Great tips. Since I have boys, I tell them that they need to eat lots of different veggies to get big and strong. Since their goals are to be superheroes, that works pretty well!

    I also have my oldest son (4.5) cook. He likes to make green beans with garlic and is happy to eat them after that!

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