Over our holiday break, I noticed something very interesting at the dinner table. If Darah saw her older cousin Thea munching on something, she wanted to try it. Thea is a very good eater, and goes for her veggies and fruits without hesitation. Darah is a decent eater, but she will reject more than Thea will. But if she saw Thea eat something (even something green!) then she wanted it, too! That’s the kind of peer pressure that I can support, for sure!
Kids will eat what they see other kids eating, whether its is brussel sprouts or Doritos. There’s actually a new DVD out that plays on this reality. It’s called Copy-Kids, and basically, it’s a video of toddlers eating, playing with and enjoying a variety of fruits and vegetables. The following foods are featured in the video:
- bell peppers
- cucumbers
- carrots
- avocado
- tomatoes
- broccoli
- oranges
- bananas
- raspberries
- strawberries
- apples
- blueberries
There’s a section for parents, too. Pediatrician Dr. Jay Gordon gives some helpful information about childhood obesity and ways that parents can encourage our kids to make healthy food choices.
But it begins with making these yummy fruits and vegetables available for them to munch on. Before you pop in this video, I’d recommend making a tray with at least 3 or 4 of the featured foods on it. It may really surprise you to see your child pick up and eat those cucumbers, but I bet they will!
Buy it!: Copy=Kids runs 115 minutes and is available for $19.95 here.
Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win a copy of this dvd!
Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my page.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary dvd for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own.
My tip is to introduce a wide variety of foods to show that healthy food doesn’t have to be boring.
I try to make good choices and lead by example!
we make eating healthy stuff fun by disguising it: with shakes, real fruit popsicles, fruit leather
xoxoxo
We grow our own veggies, and my kids are so proud they created them, they are thrilled to eat them!
Like some of the others, my daughter loves fruits, but veggies are another story (besides broccoli – weird)! Thanks for the great giveaway!
I have a fruit loving toddler, so we have no issues with fruit. She often asks for it by name. Veggies, on the other hand are another story. We make sure she sees us eating and enjoying them, and sometimes resort to calling them fun names or pointing out their shapes. Broccoli is trees. Corn is popcorn. Carrots are orange circles.
keep fruits and veggies cut up in bags in the fridge so they are easy to get and eat!
I try to get my son to at least touch or lick a new food!
I really do not have to they would rather eat veggies then snack foods
I like to hide vegetables in the foods they love
I dont really have to worry about that because my son LOVES veggies and my daughter who is a year old will eat anything lol. However one of the things that my husband and I made sure to never do is mention in front of the kids that we dont like something. Like my husband doesnt eat cheese and I dont eat pickles but our kids will never know that 😀
When we go shopping, I have my daughter pick out what veggies she wants so she’s more likely to eat them. trixpixel[at]gmail.com
I make my kids food into fun shapes so that they like eating them! Thank you for the giveaway!
No sweets in the house
We explain that they always need to at least try it to learn if they like it and sometimes it takes trying the same food many times to like it.
My son would eat anything with cheese sauce on it! 🙂
When my daughter was a small child, I used to put her plate in front of me because she would always want what I was eating.
We have the one bite rule that applies to every food, every meal. Try one bite, if you don’t like it you don’t have to eat it, but you never know unless you try it!
I have my kids help me cook and they are much more likely to eat it if they helped make it!
I like to give my two-year old a variety of food choices during the day. He can snack as often as he likes as long as it’s a healthy food!
Recently I have just left carrots & celery on the coffee table. I dont offer them to my kids or even mention them. But the kids are more likely to eat them than if I offered it to them on a plate.
I have no tips. Little Bit is two and eats nothing. I so need this video!
Only offer them healthy choices. Keep junk food out of the house.
i don’t force them to eat but we have clean plate club for encouragement. and they will eat when their hungry.
We encourage our son to at least try one bit of different foods, and a lot of times, he likes them!
By making them take at least one bite, if they dont like it, I dont make them eat it. They usually do though, Im pretty lucky they are not really picky.
My kids have always followed my example. So if I eat healthy food, they will. If I eat some junk, they want some junk. So the key for us is to have the whole family eat the same healthy meal.
My son is pretty good about eating his veggies and he loves fruit! If I’m trying to introduce something new, I offer it along with things that I know he likes. I also really encourage him to try a new veggie or fruit and if he tries it a second time I really applaud him!
I always put whatever food it is that my little guy isn’t crazy about on his plate first, and after he finishes that off I give him the rest of the meal.
I am still trying to figure that out – we have to hide veggies at this point.
We teach our kids to eat anything we serve on our table.
Thanks for the chance!
Addy is a pretty good eater but she doesn’t like to try new things. If I want her to eat something new that I don’t think she’ll like I’ll just put it on my plate and Jason’s plate and not give her any. Then she is usually convinced that this new food is something really good and she wants it 😉 She thinks our food (especially Daddy’s!) is always better than what’s on her plate even if it’s the same thing.