Here is what I know to be true: kids are amazing, creative, intuitive and smart little creatures who are just waiting to be inspired. The following are some tips on inspiring kids to go from apprehensive eaters to adventurous food lovers.
Introduce variety early
There was a study done that shows babies who are breastfed for the first year of their life get a taste of a variety of foods their mommas eat through her breast milk. So this type of introduction prepares the palate without overwhelming digestion. First foods should be flavourful, soft veggies, like ripe avocados, and steamed yams or carrots. Avoid sweets and grains for as long as possible, establishing a pattern for healthy eating.
Get them involved
My kids love to write the grocery list and then we make an adventure out of grocery shopping. All three kids are given tasks and must find certain grocery items in a given time. My older kids are given a budget and have to find the items within that dollar amount. My three-year-old loves to pick what kind of apples we buy each week. This gets him jazzed about apples and he eats two or three a day.
Get them cooking
Small children around a hot stove is not so wise so let them help prepare meals, push buttons on blenders, peel carrots (with your help), stir stuff, etc. My son loves to be a part of prepping, and I make it fun by encouraging him to explore smells, describe how things feel and even make choices of what we will make for dinner. When we announce: "Come for dinner and eat Ethan's famous chicken and peas," he gets so excited that he almost always tries everything he has prepared. This process helps a child to open up, have a healthy relationship with food and teaches him how to care for himself. My nine-year-old daughter gets inspired to create menus and cook meals for us. She could run my kitchen and feed my family any day of the week.
Don't be intense about food
Making kids eat something they don't like or forcing them to eat every last bit of food creates a messed up emotional relationship with food. Encourage kids to try something new all the time and even re-introduce something they tried but did not like before. My kids went from not liking sushi, to not minding it, to loving it.
Model good eating and cooking
Kids learn from what they see you doing and enjoying.
Hummus and yogurt dinner
Kid-friendly? Yes - quick and easy
Fun to make? Yes - blending, chopping, stirring
Nutritious? Yes - protein, fiber, calcium, vitamin C and E, Omega 3s
Ingredients
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed thoroughly
1 large lemon
100 ml olive oil or grapeseed oil
1 litre plain yogurt
2 cloves garlic smashed and peeled
Fresh basil
Diced cucumber
Black olives
Feta cheese (we use goat feta)
Green onion (optional)
Make some plain white rice ahead of time and leave it warm on the stove. Pour rinsed chickpeas into blender, add oil and juice of one lemon, two or three basil leaves and blend till creamy. Add half to one clove of garlic if you are worried about too much garlic, and add two whole garlic cloves (or more) if you love it. Blend for another 30 seconds and voila! Scoop a half-cup of rice into serving bowls and pour a quarter-cup of hummus onto the rice, then a few scoops of yogurt topped with a hand full of cucumbers, olives, crumbled feta cheese and diced green onion. My kids stir it all together and eat it like a stew.
