Trick your kid to eat their vegetables!

Short tips to change your child’s mind on eating vegetables

1) Recognize why it happens

You should recognize that your kid refuses to eat veggies due to an unwillingness to try unfamiliar tastes—it’s inherited. It’s not going to be an easy road for you, as a parent, to travel. But you already knew this anyway. It will take many attempts before your kid will accept novel food items.

2) Patience is a virtue

Try not to get angry when your kid stubbornly refuses those greens. Feeding your kid healthy food can be a challenge. Also, don’t beg or go on a lengthy explanation session breaking down the benefits of veggies. You could change the subject and go at it again the next day. It may take another 20 tries before you get a whiff of sweet success. Patience…

3) Overact your love for veggies

Here’s an idea—let your child witness you savouring a meal of veggies, a delectable bowl of salads. Dramatize if you have to, in fact you can overact. The good thing is that they won’t be able to detect bad acting at that early an age. But it is best to prepare a veggie dish that you’d like and eat it with much delight. Somehow, your kid will pick up on your enthusiasm and be curious as to the deliciousness that you are experiencing.

4) Sweet veggies first

Start them off with something easier on the taste buds like peas, carrots and generally sweeter vegetables. When your kid has eased up on the taste, you can attempt the ones with a stronger—perhaps even bitter—taste like Brussels sprouts, asparagus, spinach and so on.

5) Make it a family activity

Get your child involved, ask your kid how they’d like the veggie prepared. What sauce, how flavourful or if they would like to have a topping like bacon or grated cheese. Or perhaps they'd like drinking their veggies, all blended into a gooey mixture. You could even get your child to help to prepare and cook the meal! Assuming they will not mess up your kitchen. Click here on some sneaky ideas of making your kid eat the green.

6) Green thumbs

If you have a garden, perhaps you can plant some vegetables in the garden with your kid and watch em’ grow. They would be fascinated by the entire process and would eagerly try the product of their hard work in the sun. It’s educational as well as they learn about seeds germinating, harvesting and everything in between.

7) Reward them

A study in the UK has shown that a tiny reward like a cute little sticker when the child takes a taste may actually help get them consume foods they have previously refused. Perhaps you could try that out.

8) Be persistent

Finally, put some fun into the programme. Getting some green in your kid’s diet should not be wartime. Just be persistent, it will work out eventually.