This month The Veggienauts Club's seasonal star subscription box ingredient is scrumptious SPINACH. But what if the mere mention of green food sends your kids running a mile? Deirdre from award-winning The Cool Food School is here to help!
Is your child a fussy eater?
Do they refuse to eat their greens? Do they turn their nose up or even shriek if a piece of spinach or broccoli lands on their plate?! Well fear not - I have some great strategies you can try to encourage eating greens with your smallies!
Try these ideas:
Give them the greens you want them to eat. A child will never be able to eat spinach if we don’t serve it to them.
Start with very small quantities - one rocket leaf in a sandwich, a small floret of broccoli on their plate - don’t overwhelm them
Allow them to play with it. Peel leaves off large lettuce like iceberg and use it as a hat or use broccoli to paint with. Make swords out of celery sticks and count the peas in a pod.
Give them real green food for their play kitchen.
Do food art with green foods (and other colours if you like!)
Get them excited about greens by buying different green foods and comparing them - does courgette taste the same as cucumber? Does broccoli taste different if it’s raw or cooked? Turn your children into food explorers!
Encourage them to use their senses when examining their greens - smell it, feel it, crush it, lick it
Get them involved in cooking with you - using safe knives like the kiddies food kutter.
Model eating green foods in front of them, in a positive way - if you don’t eat it, they are unlikely to eat it! Try saying “this is so delicious…” or similar.
Try The Cool Food School's unique online course, “Food Fun for Preschoolers” which has workshops on lettuce and cucumber!
Order a Veggienauts Club subscription box for your little ones to try out food exploration with all thei senses or gift one to a friend!
Deirdre Doyle is an innovative kids food educator and children’s cookbook author. She set up the award winning The Cool Food School in 2018 to try and improve the food environment around your children and hers.