Tuesday Tip for Picky Eaters: Get your kids in the kitchen!

This week’s Tuesday Tip for Picky Eaters: Get your kids in the kitchen.

Today’s tip should be obvious, but I think it is important enough to say it out loud - get your kids in the kitchen. Allowing kids to help with meal preparation will spur their interest in food. It also is more likely they will eat the food they help to make. A recent Canadian study found that children who helped with cooking were more likely to enjoy fruits and vegetables.

Henry loves playing in the kitchen.

Yes, there are downsides. Having children in the kitchen is likely to mean that it takes a little longer to get dinner ready. There will be more messes to cleanup. But if you really want your kids to eat what’s on the table, involving them in food preparation is the ideal place to start. Making a meal together helps them learn to love cooking, create fun family memories, and develop a sense of ownership in the food they help to prepare.

There are lots of things your kids can do in the kitchen: measuring ingredients, scrubbing vegetables, pouring batter into a pan, and stirring a pot. Following the directions in a recipe also gives children an opportunity to practice a variety of math and reading skills. Even Henry loves to hang out in the kitchen while I am making dinner. He plays with rubber spatulas and plastic spoons. We have fun smiling at each other and singing along with the radio.

Henry plays on the kitchen floor while I make dinner.

For more ideas on how your kids can help in the kitchen, I feature age-appropriate cooking activities each Friday when I post a new recipe.

Comments

The Baby-Led Weaning Cookbook

UPDATE (10/2/12): Unfortunately, I did not hear back from our original winner. Congratulations to our alternate winner for "The Baby-Led Weaning Cookbook" -- Robin Pfefer. UPDATE (9/29/12): I am happy to announce that Kashia Clopper is the winner of "The Baby-Led Weaning Cookbook". When I was first thinking about using the Baby-Led Weaning (BLW) model for Henry, I was unsure about whether it would really work. I was excited about BLW’s claims of less stressful meals that the whole family could share together. Plus, I was all for encouraging Henry to gain new skills by learning about the shapes, textures, colors, smells and flavors of food. This sounded ideal in theory, but would it work in practice? After some fun but ineffective attempts at letting Henry feed himself, I went in search of resources to learn more about BLW. I needed to learn how to prepare meals for our family in which Henry could participate. That’s when I found “ The Baby-Led

Do Your Kids Eat Everything?

UPDATE (3/15/2013): Congratulations to Kia as the random drawing winner in this giveaway! Thank you to all those who entered this contest. Before we began our food adventure with Henry, Daddy and I had many conversations about how to encourage Henry to become “a good eater.” After watching other parents constantly struggle with their toddlers, we wanted to know if there was anything we could do from the start to prevent picky eating. That’s when we read “ French Kids Eat Everything ” by Karen Le Billon . The book is an easy and enjoyable read about the year that Karen’s family spent in France and how it changed the way her family eats. The heart of the book explores the 10 French Food Rules for raising happy, healthy eaters. “French Kids Eat Everything” sparked numerous discussions at our dinner table about how our family eats. We have become more conscious of our assumptions about food and how that will influence Henry’s understanding of mealtimes. In addition, the

Please Don't Feed My Toddler Cheetos

Our family has started a new chapter -- last week I rejoined the paid workforce! I am very excited about my new part-time job at a local history museum, coordinating field trips and special events. As part of this transition, Henry is now going to daycare three days per week. Henry meets new friends and plays with new toys on his first day at daycare. Searching for quality childcare was a somewhat stressful experience. We visited 8 childcare facilities who had immediate space available for Henry to begin part-time care. I wanted to be confident that Henry would be cared for by experienced, nurturing staff in an environment that would challenge him to learn new skills and form friendships with other children. Of course, the added cost of childcare also had to fit within our family budget. While interviewing daycares, one aspect that I cared about was food. All eight of the facilities participate in the USDA food program , receiving reimbursement at a set rate for the meals they

How to Feed a Henry

Search This Blog