Picky Eaters? Play Restaurant!

When Aly wins, I win. She is a typical 4 year old girl who loves her independence! She wants to be a big girl and make her own decisions which sometimes works just fine for me, but when it comes to meals...well, if it was up to her she'd be eating a lot of ice cream and sprinkles, hold the vegetables.

A few weeks ago I tried writing her a simple menu for lunch. I chose 3 main dishes for one column, 3 fruits for one, 3 vegetables for one and a list of 2 drink options: milk and water. Then we played restaurant. I seated her outside on the picnic table and totally played up the waitress role. She was able to read (with my help) the menu and circle her favorite things to have for lunch. She called me "ma'am" and even commented on the way to the bathroom, "Wow! You have a really nice kitchen in here!" Cracked me up!

I won because the choices on the menu were all healthy and she ate every bite! And that's because she won...she had control of her choices and she had fun!

Think outside the box and let me know if you have other suggestions for ways to encourage kids to make and eat healthier choices!



Aly circling her menu choices at our "outdoor restaurant".