Food is an essential part of everyone’s day, it is necessary for our sustenance. Many might even say they live to eat rather than the other way around. That is the capacity of food in bringing joy to us.The reason it is very important for parents to instil good eating habits in their children early on is varied. Having a good healthy diet is crucial for their children’s growth. It is also imperative that children form a healthy relationship with food in their childhood itself, because neglectful eating habits may become a problem later in life even if they may not be severe enough to affect their growth and health in childhood. A big part of establishing this good relationship with food and mealtimes is to make mealtimes enjoyable to your children, so they look forward to it. It will encourage your children to eat healthily and eat what is right for them, over attractive but of-no-nutritional-value snacks. Read on to find some ways to make mealtimes enjoyable for children.Making children enjoy the meals that are served every day on their plate is not an easy feat. It is natural that they may not find ordinary everyday meals interesting anymore, it may become boring for them - and hence they may not find looking forward to meals fun. But, by following some simple tricks, you can surely make this daunting task easier. Adding a fun element to mealtimes can make it simpler for you to inculcate healthy eating habits in your children. There will be less fuss during mealtimes that they will be happy and excited about. By making the mealtimes fun, you will surely find a great opportunity to include foods from all groups in your children’s diet. It may even turn into a good instance for you to educate your children on good eating habits as well, and remind them how important it is to have regular timings for your meal and how food can be something that brings happiness and is wholesome. It will help form a sturdy base to create a positive association between healthy food and good habits, which will ultimately lead to a more holistic development for them. Here is how you can make mealtimes enjoyable for your children.10 Ways to Make Mealtimes Enjoyable for ChildrenTake a quick look at the ways to make mealtimes enjoyable for children.1. Make a Proper Time-TableWe may not realise it, but we are constantly subconsciously preparing ourselves for things we know might be a part of our day. This is why it is important to have regular set times for meals for your children or to develop a proper eating schedule for children. It gives them something concrete to look forward to. Only then they can develop an interest in eating healthy and eating right. Stick to the fixed timings every day for giving them breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks in between. To take it a step further, you can even let them know what you plan to cook for those specific meals so if there is something for breakfast they don’t like a lot but there is something for lunch they enjoy, they will be more motivated to power through breakfast and eat what they may not necessarily like yet their diet needs. They will be looking forward to what they do like, and having to eat something they are not a fan of won’t be too bad. As a bonus, even if they consume a little less of the breakfast, they will surely eat enough to make up for it during lunch or dinner, whenever the dish they do like is served.2. Involve Them in Planning MealsThis is an important step. It may not seem very important right away, but what involving your children in planning or even preparing a meal does is make them feel like they have a stake in it too. If you actively take steps to involve your child in the process of planning and preparing the meals they are about to consume, they will feel like they had a say in it too, which is enough to convince them that the meal will be a good meal and they are less likely to be fussy over it. Ask your children every day about what they would like to have in their meals. Try to include their favourite food item in at least one of their meals of the day. That way they will always have some food item to look forward to.Involving them in the process will also help them witness firsthand, just how much effort goes into putting the food they eat on the table. They will inevitably value your effort more, and the next time you serve them something they find boring, they will still attempt to eat it knowing how much labour and love has gone into it. They will think twice before rejecting the food they are served.Another plus point to involving them in the process is that it will be an educative experience for them. It could be a good way to familiarise them with different veggies, fruits, spices and the many many ingredients and utensils that are involved in the ordeal of making the food they love so much. Just watching food being cooked is a fascinating thing, and they will surely be very interested in how things change when they cook. It can be a very fun activity as well as a bonding time.3. Serve in Their Favourite PlateDo you remember how during exam times we all had a favourite pen? The instrument doesn’t really make a difference to the purpose but it still gives that mental satisfaction. Similarly, serving your child’s food on their favourite plate will help them feel more connected with their food. So, always serve their food on your children’s favourite plate. If there is no favourite plate, get one for them as per their choice. Children decidedly feel more motivated to eat on their favourite plate. It also adds excitement to what may otherwise be a very drab meal. It is a good way for you to hype the food too and will help distract them if the food is not something they like. They may not like the food but they may like the plate, and that will be enough to convince them to enjoy eating their meal.4. Get Creative with MealtimesIf you have to eat the same food for a month, or listen to the same song or watch the same TV show for a month, it is only understandable that you would get bored of all those things quickly too. If you serve your children with a repeated cycle of the same few dishes, your child may get bored as well. So it is a good idea to surprise your children with a new recipe every once in a while. And if not a dish, try something else to break the routine. Sometimes, invite their friends over for lunch, breakfast or dinner if only to break the routine, because making new dishes all the time is not possible. Having meals every day at home can become very repetitive, and kids often need a new stimulus, something new. So, take them out once a month for having meals. If at all you choose to eat outside, make sure that you choose healthy foods. Getting creative will always encourage your children to look forward to mealtimes.5. Reward Good Eating HabitsSometimes, reward your children for following good eating habits. By the end of the week, give them small gifts by noticing their behaviour while eating. For example, tell them that you will gift them a new pencil or a new rubber if they eat without making any fuss for a week. It is essentially reinforcing these good habits. These little token may not mean much to us but are very excitable and amusing things for your children. Eventually, you will have to work on them developing a genuine appreciation for healthy food and how important it is when they grow older, but for now keeping their interest in eating the food that is necessary for them by rewarding them works.6. Talk to ThemIt can be great if you can have your meals as well along with your children. Mealtime can be a great time to have a conversation and bond with your child. You can ask your child about one fun thing that happened with them during school hours. During this time you must keep away from all the distractions like mobile phone, TV etc. Having a healthy discussion can make mealtime more fun and enjoyable but do not force your children to talk if they are not interested in talking. The idea is to make the mealtime as comfortable for them as possible, while also giving them the time to focus on the food and truly enjoy it.7. Allow Junk Food Once in a WeekChildren are, after all, children. And they will surely crave junk food. Although, junk food is something parents tend to keep away from their children and avoid it, as it always deemed as bad - but banning it completely from their diet is also not a good idea. It is alright to allow children to have it once a week to help them satiate their taste buds. It may serve as a treat for them. Moreso, the reason junk food is not recommended for children is because it is empty in terms of nutritional value, and yet takes up space in their tummy, which then does not leave enough space for food that is healthy and necessary. So junk food every once in a while is fine as long as it is in moderation and after they have had something nutritional.8. Encourage Them to Eat on Their OwnIt is necessary to encourage children to eat on their own. While they are eating on their own, ask them how the food tastes, how the texture is and did they like the smell of food etc. Familiarise them with eating food for the experience rather than the sake of it. Encourage them to be mindful of what they are eating. It is important for them to process the experience of eating as that is what they will be reminded of when they are hungry. If they don’t process eating ( for example if they are distracted by a phone or TV and not actually paying attention to what they are eating), it will make no difference to them if they are eating or not which might lead to them skipping meals.9. Avoid RushingAllow your children enough time to finish their meals. Forcing them to finish the food in very little time can irritate them, and even put them off eating. Rushing while eating is one of the poor eating habits and children may not be able to enjoy their food in such circumstances. It is also unhealthy, as rushing them may lead them to not properly chew the food and simply gulp the food which can affect digestion. So, the best way to make sure that they actually enjoy their meal is to give them ample time to finish it.10. Fix a Proper Place for Having MealsAllow your children to choose their favourite seat on the dining table. If you do not have a dining table at home, allow your children to choose a particular place where they cansit comfortably and have their meals every day. It will help them get into the right headspace for a meal, and associating that place with their meal will make them enjoy the meal more because they are in ‘their’ space.Follow the above-mentioned tips and you will surely see the development of a positive attitude in your children towards food. Focus on making eating time a positive experience for your children so that they learn to eat healthily and eat right.How do you ensure that children do not make a fuss during mealtimes? What are the ways to help children enjoy the meals? How to encourage healthy eating habits in children? Discuss here.
Food is an essential part of everyone’s day, it is necessary for our sustenance. Many might even say they live to eat rather than the other way around. That is the capacity of food in bringing joy to us.
The reason it is very important for parents to instil good eating habits in their children early on is varied. Having a good healthy diet is crucial for their children’s growth. It is also imperative that children form a healthy relationship with food in their childhood itself, because neglectful eating habits may become a problem later in life even if they may not be severe enough to affect their growth and health in childhood. A big part of establishing this good relationship with food and mealtimes is to make mealtimes enjoyable to your children, so they look forward to it. It will encourage your children to eat healthily and eat what is right for them, over attractive but of-no-nutritional-value snacks. Read on to find some ways to make mealtimes enjoyable for children.
Making children enjoy the meals that are served every day on their plate is not an easy feat. It is natural that they may not find ordinary everyday meals interesting anymore, it may become boring for them - and hence they may not find looking forward to meals fun. But, by following some simple tricks, you can surely make this daunting task easier. Adding a fun element to mealtimes can make it simpler for you to inculcate healthy eating habits in your children. There will be less fuss during mealtimes that they will be happy and excited about. By making the mealtimes fun, you will surely find a great opportunity to include foods from all groups in your children’s diet. It may even turn into a good instance for you to educate your children on good eating habits as well, and remind them how important it is to have regular timings for your meal and how food can be something that brings happiness and is wholesome. It will help form a sturdy base to create a positive association between healthy food and good habits, which will ultimately lead to a more holistic development for them. Here is how you can make mealtimes enjoyable for your children.
10 Ways to Make Mealtimes Enjoyable for Children
Take a quick look at the ways to make mealtimes enjoyable for children.
1. Make a Proper Time-Table
We may not realise it, but we are constantly subconsciously preparing ourselves for things we know might be a part of our day. This is why it is important to have regular set times for meals for your children or to develop a proper eating schedule for children. It gives them something concrete to look forward to. Only then they can develop an interest in eating healthy and eating right. Stick to the fixed timings every day for giving them breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks in between. To take it a step further, you can even let them know what you plan to cook for those specific meals so if there is something for breakfast they don’t like a lot but there is something for lunch they enjoy, they will be more motivated to power through breakfast and eat what they may not necessarily like yet their diet needs. They will be looking forward to what they do like, and having to eat something they are not a fan of won’t be too bad. As a bonus, even if they consume a little less of the breakfast, they will surely eat enough to make up for it during lunch or dinner, whenever the dish they do like is served.
2. Involve Them in Planning Meals
This is an important step. It may not seem very important right away, but what involving your children in planning or even preparing a meal does is make them feel like they have a stake in it too. If you actively take steps to involve your child in the process of planning and preparing the meals they are about to consume, they will feel like they had a say in it too, which is enough to convince them that the meal will be a good meal and they are less likely to be fussy over it. Ask your children every day about what they would like to have in their meals. Try to include their favourite food item in at least one of their meals of the day. That way they will always have some food item to look forward to.
Involving them in the process will also help them witness firsthand, just how much effort goes into putting the food they eat on the table. They will inevitably value your effort more, and the next time you serve them something they find boring, they will still attempt to eat it knowing how much labour and love has gone into it. They will think twice before rejecting the food they are served.
Another plus point to involving them in the process is that it will be an educative experience for them. It could be a good way to familiarise them with different veggies, fruits, spices and the many many ingredients and utensils that are involved in the ordeal of making the food they love so much. Just watching food being cooked is a fascinating thing, and they will surely be very interested in how things change when they cook. It can be a very fun activity as well as a bonding time.
3. Serve in Their Favourite Plate
Do you remember how during exam times we all had a favourite pen? The instrument doesn’t really make a difference to the purpose but it still gives that mental satisfaction. Similarly, serving your child’s food on their favourite plate will help them feel more connected with their food. So, always serve their food on your children’s favourite plate. If there is no favourite plate, get one for them as per their choice. Children decidedly feel more motivated to eat on their favourite plate. It also adds excitement to what may otherwise be a very drab meal. It is a good way for you to hype the food too and will help distract them if the food is not something they like. They may not like the food but they may like the plate, and that will be enough to convince them to enjoy eating their meal.
4. Get Creative with Mealtimes
If you have to eat the same food for a month, or listen to the same song or watch the same TV show for a month, it is only understandable that you would get bored of all those things quickly too. If you serve your children with a repeated cycle of the same few dishes, your child may get bored as well. So it is a good idea to surprise your children with a new recipe every once in a while. And if not a dish, try something else to break the routine. Sometimes, invite their friends over for lunch, breakfast or dinner if only to break the routine, because making new dishes all the time is not possible. Having meals every day at home can become very repetitive, and kids often need a new stimulus, something new. So, take them out once a month for having meals. If at all you choose to eat outside, make sure that you choose healthy foods. Getting creative will always encourage your children to look forward to mealtimes.
5. Reward Good Eating Habits
Sometimes, reward your children for following good eating habits. By the end of the week, give them small gifts by noticing their behaviour while eating. For example, tell them that you will gift them a new pencil or a new rubber if they eat without making any fuss for a week. It is essentially reinforcing these good habits. These little token may not mean much to us but are very excitable and amusing things for your children. Eventually, you will have to work on them developing a genuine appreciation for healthy food and how important it is when they grow older, but for now keeping their interest in eating the food that is necessary for them by rewarding them works.
6. Talk to Them
It can be great if you can have your meals as well along with your children. Mealtime can be a great time to have a conversation and bond with your child. You can ask your child about one fun thing that happened with them during school hours. During this time you must keep away from all the distractions like mobile phone, TV etc. Having a healthy discussion can make mealtime more fun and enjoyable but do not force your children to talk if they are not interested in talking. The idea is to make the mealtime as comfortable for them as possible, while also giving them the time to focus on the food and truly enjoy it.
7. Allow Junk Food Once in a Week
Children are, after all, children. And they will surely crave junk food. Although, junk food is something parents tend to keep away from their children and avoid it, as it always deemed as bad - but banning it completely from their diet is also not a good idea. It is alright to allow children to have it once a week to help them satiate their taste buds. It may serve as a treat for them. Moreso, the reason junk food is not recommended for children is because it is empty in terms of nutritional value, and yet takes up space in their tummy, which then does not leave enough space for food that is healthy and necessary. So junk food every once in a while is fine as long as it is in moderation and after they have had something nutritional.
8. Encourage Them to Eat on Their Own
It is necessary to encourage children to eat on their own. While they are eating on their own, ask them how the food tastes, how the texture is and did they like the smell of food etc. Familiarise them with eating food for the experience rather than the sake of it. Encourage them to be mindful of what they are eating. It is important for them to process the experience of eating as that is what they will be reminded of when they are hungry. If they don’t process eating ( for example if they are distracted by a phone or TV and not actually paying attention to what they are eating), it will make no difference to them if they are eating or not which might lead to them skipping meals.
9. Avoid Rushing
Allow your children enough time to finish their meals. Forcing them to finish the food in very little time can irritate them, and even put them off eating. Rushing while eating is one of the poor eating habits and children may not be able to enjoy their food in such circumstances. It is also unhealthy, as rushing them may lead them to not properly chew the food and simply gulp the food which can affect digestion. So, the best way to make sure that they actually enjoy their meal is to give them ample time to finish it.
10. Fix a Proper Place for Having Meals
Allow your children to choose their favourite seat on the dining table. If you do not have a dining table at home, allow your children to choose a particular place where they can sit comfortably and have their meals every day. It will help them get into the right headspace for a meal, and associating that place with their meal will make them enjoy the meal more because they are in ‘their’ space.
Follow the above-mentioned tips and you will surely see the development of a positive attitude in your children towards food. Focus on making eating time a positive experience for your children so that they learn to eat healthily and eat right.
How do you ensure that children do not make a fuss during mealtimes? What are the ways to help children enjoy the meals? How to encourage healthy eating habits in children? Discuss here.
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