Getting the Kids to Eat

Cooking for kids so they will actually consume enough can be a challenge. This is true of my kid at home now who is almost five but is eating only bananas and tomato soup unless I am very clever with it all and do my best to try and get him to eat something different.

Problem is he is really picky and what he thinks is great one day is yucky the next. Remember how much I told you he loved pesto last year. Well he is off it now. It looks like green yucky he says. I tried putting less garlic in it and that didn't' help.

Of course he is so stubborn and I am wondering if he is getting the right nutrition. His eating patters waver from being massively hungry to eating like two peas a day. I have also figured out that most kids his age are more like grazers rather than really chow it all down in one sitting. It is also hard to get him to see eating as being fun sometimes.

All you can do is try to get them some nutrition through the foods you know they love. A good example is macron and cheese. In fact my kids would eat that every single day if they could. Of course one can't live on Kraft Dinner alone so I add my own cheese for added calcium and protein.

I also make sure they get calcium by adding chocolate to the milk. Right now he likes that Strawberry Quik stuff. I am always thinking – whatever makes you healthy. However when I buy these mixes I make sure there is not too much sugar in them.

Calcium is also found in vegetables, ice cream, pudding and yogurts. Cherries also have it so cherry flavored yogurt is a very good idea. However watch it with yogurt as if it is not sweet enough the kids will always turn their nose up at it.

Another thing to remember is that kids do have sensitive taste buds. Like us they have tastes. They may like some foods and not always. They may have real opinions about what they want to eat and what they don't want to eat.

I try to encourage them to help me cook in the kitchen as much as possible. This helps to get them used to different foods. If they have tried a food and don't like it then you should just trust the kid. No sense forcing them to eat something they really don't like. It's frustrating but I believe in treating a child with as much respect as possible and as much like they are humans with tastes and preferences like the adults.

At any rate, I have found that kids who have a hand in cooking are more likely to eat the meal without whining. It is because they feel they have created something.

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Why Cooking With You Is Good For Kids

According to a show I watched on ABC ( the Dish Network) recently about cooking with your kids there is a lot more to it than just teaching them a life skill that they can use the rest of their lives. There are also many other benefits.

Learning to cook with me could increase a kid's vocabulary in general. They learn more exotic terms like baste or agitate or steam. They also learn a fair amount of math especially when it comes to using the measuring cups and measuring spoons. Studies have been done at Harvard that also prove that parents that who have a little bit of dinner conversation with their children tend to raise kids who are smarter and have larger vocabularies.

Letting your kid cook with you makes he or she feel trusted and like you know that they can achieve great things. Cooking is confidence building. They feel the sense of accomplishment and feel like they are contributing to the family. Furthermore it is a chance during a very busy day to spend quality time with your kids. It is important to view them as help in the kitchen and not as a liability so this can work. Remember it is key to teach your kid the value of teamwork and the joys of giving and sharing.

By doing this and sitting down together for a meal you train your kids not to eat in front of the television. Kids that don't eat in front of the boob tube have more respect for their bodies, as they are more aware of what they are putting into it.

Another good aspect is that if you make an agreement with yourself to cook with your kids more you will find yourself spending less time with them in restaurants. Making your own junk food is also cheaper and economical.

Nutritionally eating and cooking with your kids is also superior, as you are not generally eating junk food while you are cooking. Usually home cooked meals are low in calories and fat. By feeding them at home you are also teaching your kid to have a discerning food palate and crave more than one kind of food. They also become more manually dexterous and are more likely to be able to be trusted with a cooking implement like a knife when you are not around as they have had some practice using it.

Educationally kids can use organizational and creative talents while cooking. Decorating a cake or making a pizza usually involves a bit of a visual sense or the food will look unattractive. Kids also become more sensual as adults as they learn an appreciation and respect for food through its sounds, smells, tastes and textures.

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