How To Deal With a Picky Eater

If you have a picky eater on your hands and I know I do here are some tips for trying to get the little fussy one to eat.

First of all don't serve them snacks too close to dinner or lunchtime. Your mother probably practiced this rule with you too and for a good reason. A kid with a full stomach is not going to feel like eating. A picky eater will have even less motivation to eat if his or her tummy is full. Do not overfeed your child and he or she will want to gobble up everything on his or her plate. This does not mean starving the kid. However creating a slight sense of appetite is not going to hurt things.

You should also limit the amount of juice and milk that you give your child during and in between meals. Both juice and milk fills them up so they do not feel hungry. Whatever you do not give this picky eater carbonated or sugary drinks as that can make them act very trance. Coke and Pepsi are extremely bad because they contain caffeine.

If your child is served a different type of food than the rest of the family then the child could be jealous. Serve the child up a bite of what you are eating which is a 'reward' bite if they finish the other stuff on their plate. However do not use sugary foods like dessert as a reward. This can cause the child toga in weight and create an unhealthy expectation for your child each time you all sit down together to eat.

If your child is not cooperative then try to stay calm. If you yell, berate or get upset at your child then both of you will be too stressed to focus on eating. You do not want your child to develop a negative attitude towards food. Kids that are yelled at while eating end up being too skinny or too fat as the result of eating disorders they develop. Many become binge eaters who stuff themselves when others aren't watching so they will not be watched or criticized like they were when they were toddlers at the dinner table.

Another good trick is to play with the shape of the food. Get some heart or animal shaped cookie cutters and make them into fun shapes. Another tact is to make up a story using the food. Lots of kids can be encouraged to eat their food if they are allowed to play with it first.

If your kids won't eat what you serve them or will only eat just one type of food then try putting some protein with it. My little boy ate nothing but bananas and tomato soup for years. He was okay but in order to add to his protein uptake I often added peanut butter to the sliced up banana that he would often have for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I simply could not get him to eat anything else.

Yet another neat trick is to let them eat with a stack of measuring spoons. Kids enjoy this for some reason.

Valentine’s Day Crafts

Valentine crafts are a perfect expression of your affection for another person because they say that the most heart-felt gift is a home made one. There are literally thousands of valentine craft ideas on the Internet, complete with recipes for everything from home made clay to gel candles. All you have to do to meet with the slightest bit of inspiration to get some kind of craft project going with your children.

Perhaps one of the most classic of valentine crafts is the floral wreath. All this involves is visiting your local craft store or Walmart to pick up some heart shaped foam backing. This foam backing will act as the armature for your valentine floral craft. You then have the option of pinning real or fake flowers (preferably red or pink roses!) to the armature until no foam is exposed. This kind of wreathe can also be decorated with bows, ribbons gumdrops and heart shaped candies. You can also buy heart shaped armatures at Walmart and other craft outlets that are made out of twisted ropes of grapevines. These grapevines make a very attractive spine to which you can attach blooms with tiny bits of wire.

Wreathes don’t have to created from flowers. They can also be created from candies. Heart shaped candies or chocolates can be affixed to a heart shaped backing to create an easy valentine craft that is also edible!

The art of candle making is also a source of valentine craft ideas, especially with the advent of the new gel candle making kits that are now out there on the market. Gel candles are petroleum based and they are not free standing, so you do need to purchase some attractive jars to pour your finished product in. Gel candles are created by melting flakes or chips of the gel in a double boiler and then pouring it into a jar or a glass. As gel candles are see through and often resemble liquid, a champagne or wine glass makes an attractive vessel. Before you pour the liquid you can also place objects such as small plastic hearts, faux engagement rings as well as heart shaped glitter into the glass before you pour the gel into the vessel. Like jello, the gel candle will harden and the objects will be suspended in the glass. Tying the jar or ribbon with a red bow turns this valenties day craft into a great gift.

The safest and easiest to make valentines crafts for children are usually made of construction paper or play dough. Pink home-made play dough is easily made using flour, salt and water and a couple of drops of food coloring. You can roll out the dough like clay and make heart shaped plaques using heart shaped cookie cutters. The heart-shaped results can be baked in the oven like cookies and given away like gifts.

Hearts can also be cut out of red construction paper to create valentines crafts. Red paper glue and scissors can either used to make cards or an accordian like string of decorations. All it takes is some glitter, crayons and a little imagination to spark your child’s imagination to create unique valentine’s crafts.