Solving Food Dilemmas With Food Faces

Posted on 08 16, 2008 under The Manual by Noodad | Comments

If you watch the Iron Chef you would know that “plating” is a big part in presentation of your meal. If you just throw a spoonful of slop in a bowl your kid will most likely not want to eat it. Oliver only asked for “more” because he was a dirty, starving orphan. Your kid needs to find eating fun and enjoyable. Here are some things that I have found success with when it comes to presentation of the meal.Faces – Whenever I make a face with my daughter”s food it keeps her engaged in the meal longer and she tends to eat more of it. For instance, many times I put two pieces of broccoli for two eyes, two pieces for two ears, chicken as the nose, cheese for the hair, and ketchup for the mouth. I ask my daughter whether the guy is happy or sad and then squeeze the Heinz in the shape. She quickly unleashes her hidden Hannibal Lecter on her dinner.

Words and Letters – My daughter is practicing spelling her name so we sometimes write out her name with food. We cut up chicken or a hot dog into strips to form letters. We also cut avocado (a fave in our house) into curved letters and use crackers to dot the “i”. After she got good at recognizing the letters, we started writing other messages with the food. All of a sudden, it wasn”t 3 green beans that she was avoiding eating, rather a letter “H” that she couldn”t wait to devour.

Towers – If you build it, human nature compels them to knock it down. I like to stack food in interesting structures encouraging my kids to eat pieces to make it fall down. Sort of like an edible Jenga. (Only you aren”t drunk and think it is an incredibly clever game.) I”ve made teepees out of carrot sticks, log cabins out of pretzel rods, and an attempt at Fenway Park with Tofu. They were all met with appreciation for my efforts and all resulted in a clean plate.

So what types of things do you other Noodads do to make meal time more interesting?

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    I offer choices--no more than 3 things to pick from, but ususally two. It makes my 5YO feel like he\'s driving the feeding process.

    Cookie cutters are a good idea for sandwiches. It\'s more fun eating a t-rex or football PBJ than the standard square or triangle.

    I\'m also not one of those you-better-clean-your-plate parents, and I don\'t think it\'s a good idea to force your kid to eat if they say they aren\'t hungry. Sometimes people--kids included--just don\'t want to eat even if the clock says it\'s time. Our pediatrician tells us to look at our kid\'s diet over a two week period to best evaluate how he\'s doing at the table. And as always, if the kid is peeing, pooping, and growing, everything is fine.
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    We\'ve heard this phrase from the pediatrician as well. We tried it, but honestly our daugther went over a week and a half without even touching a single vegetable or fruit. I\'m impressed that works for some. Our daughter is anti-anything green, therefore we do the \"at least 3 bites of each thing on your plate rule\".
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    My 3 Y/O Nephew Spencer had a Serious thing with eating. While I was living there I made French fries Made up of Letters and I\'d line them up to spell a word. He would eat a letter say it and we would spell things out. And we would celebrate when he finished the word. Since then he\'s actually taken carrot sticks and made letters before he eats them. Fun AND Educational! *Note* Do not try this with broccoli, It just don\'t work, Unless the word is \"TTTTTT\"
 

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