The Battle of the Veggies

Today I read an article in The Daily Telegraph that stated Glow sticks, hand sanitisers and toilet cleaning discs are among the most widely gnawed items by little ones, prompting panicked parents to ring the NSW Poisons Information Centre. Has your child ever eaten or tried to eat something like this? Maybe sand isn’t so bad when you consider some kids are able to get access to toilet cleaning disks. Silica gel sachets from shoe boxes and tasty infant medicine syrups are other special favourites of young children. Why do kids want to eat things that shouldn’t but so many of us Mums are struggling to get our kids to eat the good food’s they need be eating.

Last visit to the the beech my son was licking the sand off his hands, since then I’ve seen him try to eat grass, soil, cat food, play-dough and the various  toys he has. I know all children do this but it got me thinking… How is Sand tastier than peas or broccoli or pumpkin? Why is it that my baby wants to eat dirt, sand and grass but not veggies. Even my 4 yr old is tempted by play dough every now and then and yet getting her to eat mashed potato or in fact any vegetable is a challenge.

The more I thought about this the more I was thinking “why?”. I mean fruit and veggies are colourful, fun looking foods. Kids toys are colourful and kids LOVE that and yet a colourful selection of fruit or veggies and they don’t want it. Personally I hate the fact my 4 yr old will down a large McDonald’s chips on her own with nuggets every night (if I let her) and yet cannot seem to stomach mashed or baked potato.

Lately dinner time has become whine time. My kids are always complaining about what’s for dinner and it’s a battle to get them to eat what I cook for them. The more mums I spoke to the more I realised its a common problem.

Do I have to start creating art work with food for them to take notice and eat it??.

Do I hide veggies and other good stuff inside inconspicuousness foods perhaps or should I serve them in a new way?

Maybe I could make funny faces or turn the food into fun themed feasts (like the robot below)?

Or maybe I need to by some fancy cutlery or crockery like the construction set below or the face plates

In my search for FUN food’s I did discover a GREAT site called FUNKY LUNCH and they have some amazing ideas for sandwiches but I doubt I’ll have time to create these or if they’d be practical for school lunch boxes.