Tip of Week Collection

  • Use clean coffee filters as bowls for snacks like dry cereal, pretzels and dried fruit for children in your care. They are cheap when bought in bulk. They are also terrific when doing different craft projects!

  • You can lead them to a new food, but you can't make them eat! Never force a child to eat a particular food. Offer it. If he or she doesn't want to eat it, simply take the food away and present it at a different time.

  • Children are not born with food preferences; they acquire them. If you want children to try a new food, make sure you taste it in front of the children. Imitation is a powerful force in learning.

  • Studies have found that children are more likely to eat a new food if they see their friends eating and enjoying the food. To encourage a reluctant taster to try a new food, have him or her sit with some enthusiastic tasters.

  • Snack time is a time to have fun. It can be a picnic outside, a tea party with dolls and stuffed animals, or lunch on a "cardboard box and pillows train."

  • Serve an unfamiliar food with familiar ones. Serving an unfamiliar food with familiar foods increases the likelihood that a child will taste the new food.

  • In selecting new foods, remember that children prefer foods with:
    grey arrow: Bright colors, such as orange carrots or green peas;
    grey arrow: Milder flavors, such as milk, custard, or bananas;
    grey arrow: Interesting textures, like crunchy fruits or smooth puddings

  • Some foods within each food group are better sources of some nutrients than others. In the Vegetable Group, tomatoes are a good source of vitamin C, but low in vitamin A. Carrots, on the other hand, are a good source of vitamin A but not of vitamin C.

  • Planning meals ahead of time will help you save money and eat better. You'll be less likely to buy expensive fast foods, and more likely to have healthy meals.

  • Nutrition education research indicates that around the ages of 4 and 5, children start to develop their adult food preferences. A child's long-term nutritional status and health may be positively influenced if he or she develops a preference for a variety of nutritious foods at an early age.

  • When cooking, encourage your child to help. For example, if a recipe calls for 3 eggs, ask her to get 3 eggs from the fridge. She'll feel like she's helping and counting will help develop her math skills.

  • Display colorful fruit and vegetable posters, pictures and artwork in your classroom. Having preschoolers create the art lets them express what their favorite fruits and vegetables are.

  • A "Mystery Tasting Party" at Alice Byrne Elementary School introduced students to some unusual fruits and vegetables. If the students were unable to identify the "mystery food" by a taste, they were provided with other clues such as which vitamins it contained and where it was grown. By the time many of the unfamiliar foods (including kiwi, mango, jicama, and pomegranate) were unmasked, students had learned lots about them!

  • Plan breakfast before you go to bed. Set up the plates, bowls, cereal boxes and instant oatmeal the night before into a fun "breakfast buffet" area. Prepare large quantities of pancakes or French toast on the weekend and freeze extras for weekday breakfasts as a nice alternative to cold cereal.

  • The first meal of the day is a good time to give your child foods that are high in fiber, such as cereals and whole-grain breads. Juices, cheeses and yogurt are also good breakfast foods, but fruit has more fiber than fruit juice. Use skim or low-fat milk rather than whole or 2% milk.

  • Use whole-grain breads and rolls to make a healthier sandwich. Whole grains increase the total fiber in your child's diet. Give your child whole-grain crackers with soups, chili and stew, and always serve fresh fruit (with the skin) with meals.

  • Let your child vary the breakfast menu. Dinner fare can become breakfast foods & favorite snacks can become meals. How about leftover pizza or pasta for breakfast?

  • Be ready to join your child for breakfast. Children learn best by your positive behavior example.

  • Seek to keep breakfast simple. Try quick "go-together " foods like cereal and milk, toast with peanut butter, a hard-cooked egg and bagel.

  • Make breakfast the last thing you do in the morning versus trying to get your children to eat first thing out of bed.