Turn Picky Eaters into Eager Helpers!

…and Turn Picky Eaters into Eager Helpers!

The best way to turn kids that are disinterested, picky eaters into kids who will have a lifelong appreciation of the pleasures of the table and good food is to get them involved!

From planning menus and shopping for ingredients, (learn How to Plan Meals and Shop for Food here) to the preparation and serving of finished meals, kids that are invited to participate are more apt to enjoy the process and the finished result. Here’s how to get your child involved:

Have your child sit down at the table with you and some of your favorite cookbooks. Encourage her to select a few recipes that interest her. Designate one day per week as “her choice” day, where dinner that night will be her choice. (Provide a few boundaries here by saying, “You may choose any entrée and one vegetable side dish you like from these two cookbooks”) This will prevent her from picking marshmallow pie for dinner!

Once she has made her selection, show her how to write down the ingredients needed to make that particular dish on a shopping list. Be sure to take her shopping with you and show her how to choose a proper potato or a ripe tomato. On the designated evening, cook the meal with her. Show her, step by step, how to prepare and serve it to the family. You won’t believe how much she will enjoy the compliments to the chef that she will receive!

On alternate nights, when she is not responsible for the meal, she can still help you in the kitchen, learning valuable life skills while spending quality time together, absorbing techniques, tips and family recipes that she will cherish for her whole life.

Little boys love to cook too! Don’t leave your son out, thinking that domestic arts are “women’s work”. A man should know how to feed himself as much as a woman should. In addition to cooking, teach your child how to set a proper table. He should know a salad fork from a main course fork, a soup spoon from a dessert spoon and where the utensils are placed in a setting. Now, your family may not eat like this every evening, but at special occasions or holidays, or if he is ever invited to a fancy dinner, he won’t want to appear ill mannered. Proper table etiquette (napkin in your lap, elbows off the table, chew with a closed mouth, don’t interrupt when another is talking, and so on) will hold him in good stead, no matter the company.

Make table setting a fun job instead of a chore. Get a book on napkin folding (you can find this book at the Store) and encourage your child to get creative! Ask her to go outside and gather flowers and greenery to arrange in a vase, or create a unique centerpiece using fruit, vegetables, stones, pinecones, whatever is beautiful to her eye. Use candles at the table, and show her how to safely light them and later snuff them out.

Have her design and color a menu for the evening’s meal and post it at the entrance to the dining room. Make up clever name cards and let her decide where everyone will sit that night. Use your best dishes and your everyday dishes. Mix them up with treasures you find at flea markets or yard sales that you have attended together. Even better, go and make your own dishes! Many towns now have pottery businesses where you can design and paint your own pre-molded dishware. They will fire the glazed piece for you and you will take home a priceless addition to your family table.

Finally, after he or she has learned all about kitchen safety and cooking skills, allow them to make an entire meal by themselves and surprise you with it! The ear-to-ear grin of pride on their face will bring a tear to your eye.

Did someone say disinterested, picky eaters? Not in this family!

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