How to Get Kids to Eat New Foods
How many times have you wound up making two different dinners because your kids refused to eat what you cooked? Or worse yet, you wind up cooking only things the kids like, so the 
rest of the family has to eat repeating meals of macaroni and cheese, chicken nuggets, and french fries.
Kids need to learn to eat a variety of foods not only for health reasons, but to make the work of feeding your family easier. You don't want to cook two meals every night and you don't want to wage war every mealtime. But getting picky kids to eat something new is far easier wished than done. It can be done, though. And believe it or not, it can be as much fun for you as it is for them.
Kids live in a world where reality and fantasy are blurred, and that can work to your advantage. Forget your mother's admonition not to play with your food. Creative playing is the best way to get your kids to eat new foods. The wilder the play, the better. I'm not talking about food fights, though. Serving kids creatively named and creatively presented foods is the key to enlarging your kids' list of acceptable foods.
Develop theme meals around your child's interests and engage the child in fantasy play as part of the meal. The best thing about this approach is that you don't have think up special foods. You just have to get creative in describing what you have already cooked. Kids don't like "different" foods simply because they are "different." Instead of downplaying the difference, in these games you want to highlight it and shine a spotlight on it.
There are three steps to this technique. First, choose a theme based on your child's interests. Second, find a creative name. Third, tie the food to a story of some kind.
Does your daughter adore fairy princesses? Turn a plate of lettuce into "Fairy Food" and serve with a dressing of "Wing Strengthener." Names and details are an important part of this method. Don't just tell the child "fairies eat carrots, you should too," but call the carrots sun rays and explain that the fairies glow because they eat these rays of light every day.
Kids need to learn to eat a variety of foods not only for health reasons, but to make the work of feeding your family easier. You don't want to cook two meals every night and you don't want to wage war every mealtime. But getting picky kids to eat something new is far easier wished than done. It can be done, though. And believe it or not, it can be as much fun for you as it is for them.
Kids live in a world where reality and fantasy are blurred, and that can work to your advantage. Forget your mother's admonition not to play with your food. Creative playing is the best way to get your kids to eat new foods. The wilder the play, the better. I'm not talking about food fights, though. Serving kids creatively named and creatively presented foods is the key to enlarging your kids' list of acceptable foods.
Develop theme meals around your child's interests and engage the child in fantasy play as part of the meal. The best thing about this approach is that you don't have think up special foods. You just have to get creative in describing what you have already cooked. Kids don't like "different" foods simply because they are "different." Instead of downplaying the difference, in these games you want to highlight it and shine a spotlight on it.
There are three steps to this technique. First, choose a theme based on your child's interests. Second, find a creative name. Third, tie the food to a story of some kind.
Does your daughter adore fairy princesses? Turn a plate of lettuce into "Fairy Food" and serve with a dressing of "Wing Strengthener." Names and details are an important part of this method. Don't just tell the child "fairies eat carrots, you should too," but call the carrots sun rays and explain that the fairies glow because they eat these rays of light every day.