8 fun ideas for your children to eat their vegetables

Are you having trouble getting your kids to eat their vegetables? Of course.
My daughter was very fond of trying and eating almost anything… and then she turned two and a half years old. Now it’s practically impossible to get her to eat anything other than corn when it comes to vegetables. So I had to come up with some fun and sometimes clever ways to put some vegetables in it. Here are some of my favorites.

1) Make a big pot of vegetable soup and then add some fun noodle shapes. You can use alphabet noodles or go for some fun and novel shapes. You may be able to find some cartoon characters, toys, and sports shapes, etc. I have even seen shapes of pumpkins and Christmas trees. Hopefully, your kids will be too busy spelling words or identifying shapes to notice all the vegetables they’re eating in the soup.

2) If you can’t make them eat it, make them drink it. Pour some vegetable juice over ice and add a straw, cocktail umbrella or celery stick and watch them drink it down. Your kids may not get as much fiber from eating the whole vegetable, but getting them to drink their vegetables is better than not having any vegetables in their system.

3) Have you tried offering them some raw vegetables with a little ranch dressing to dip them in? Many children who are not very fond of cooked vegetables will eat them if they can get them wet. Just grab a bag of baby carrots and chop up some red and yellow bell peppers and some cucumber. Arrange them on a plate with a little ranch dressing or your favorite vegetable dip on the side.

4) Go one step further and let them create works of art with their vegetables. Offer raw vegetables in different colors and shapes and encourage them to make a vegetable collage on their plate. You can easily make a face using cucumber slices for eyes, a small carrot for a nose, and a slice of red pepper for a mouth. You can use grated watercress or carrots or even some cheese for hair. Before you know it, you’ll find them trying out your “art supplies.”

5) To get them to eat more vegetables at dinner try a small salad bar. Throw in some lettuce, some sliced ​​or chopped tomato, cucumber slices, grated carrot, red and yellow bell pepper slices, small broccoli florets, and anything else you can think of. You can also offer them some options when it comes to salad dressings. Favorites in our house are Ranch, Italian, Catalina, and French. To top it off, top with some croutons and grated cheese.

6) Get the kids together and make a cold vegetable pizza. Start with a tin of crescent rolls. Unroll the dough, but do not separate the triangular shapes. Instead, butt seams together and bake on a baking sheet according to package directions. Let the dough sheet cool completely, then spread with some cream cheese (we like a vegetable or herb flavored one) and top with some thinly sliced ​​raw vegetables. Cut into squares and serve.

7) Involve them in the kitchen, especially when it comes to cooking. Ask them to wash the vegetables, if they’re old enough, let them cut the vegetables (under your supervision of course), let them help you stir, or whatever else you can think of that is age appropriate. You’ll be surprised how proud they will be of your finished product. Trust me, they will try just about anything if they succeed.

8) If all else fails, hide vegetables in other foods. My mom used to make us a special orange mashed potato. We thought she was very fancy, but all she did was cook some carrots with the potatoes and mash them right there. You can also top the broccoli with tomato sauce or cheese. Think of a dish that your child really likes and include it with some vegetables.

Try some of these ideas and see which ones work best for your children. Keep it up and sooner or later they will begin to develop a taste for vegetables.