how do i get my 3 year old to eat vegetables?

Answer 1

This is what I do, and it works wonderfully. Have you ever seen the magic bullet blender infomercial? haha well on it they make smoothies. I make smoothies for my son, because he always likes to have some juice. I put in some berries, some yogurt a splash of juice and some veggies. I've tried it! It tastes like fruit. I throw in frozen grean beans or lima beans, or fresh spinach, (whatever you have- besides peas...to strong) and almost every time, carrots. They're so sweet that you could put in a ton without him noticing. My son still drinks out of a sippy cup and doesnt notice yet so even if his smoothie looks green from the veggies he doesnt notice, but if yours would then try carrots which still make it look redish-orange and maybe throw in a small handful of something else. Or just put in deeper fruit colors like blueberries to cover the color of the greens. I know it may sound weird but put a fun straw in it and it's a treat. (Be careful with sippy cups though, a lot of times little chunks of fruits and veggies get stuck in the valve and they cant get it out. I use the plastic ones with no valve and cut part of the slits in the top off.)

Answer 2

You basically have to trick them into eating them. (They also usually need to see new vegetables at least 8 to 10 times before they will even try it....and they need to see you eat it too!!! ) You have several choices on how to do that. Here is what I do to get my three kids (ages 3, 4, and 7) to eat their vegetables:
1) I cover some of the vegetables with cheese or a bechamel sauce that I add cheese to. My boys are addicted to freshly ground black pepper....and they will eat almost anything (including peaches and pineapple) with pepper on it. Maybe something like that would work.
2) I cut up the vegetables into various shapes or I use the "crinkle cutter" and give the kids a choice of dipping sauces (salad dressings, salsa, Thai peanut butter sauce, or even ketchup). I have found that it is easier to introduce fresh uncooked vegetables at first.
3) I let them help pick out the vegetables at the store. They are more likely to eat something that they helped pick out.
4) I puree things like zucchini and/or squash and add it to mashed potatoes. I add pureed vegetables into meatloaf, chili, spaghetti sauce, etc. I add spinach into quite a few Italian dishes and my kids are convinced that it is fresh basil.
Getting kids to eat healthy is not easy....so good luck and best wishes!

Answer 3

I know this sounds gross, but my youngest daughter would only eat vegetables with KETCHUP when she was young. As she got older, she would dip them in ranch, spaghetti sauce or cheese sauce. I never poured it on top of them, I just let her dip them in it. I figured I'd rather her have some ketchup with them than not eat them at all. She stopped doing this by age 5 and now eats all types of vegetables without any problems. I think a lot of kids don't like veggies because their parents overcook them. My husband's parents used to give him canned green beans, overcooked brussel sprouts and soggy broccoli. YUCK!!! Try steaming lightly steaming them and putting a little garlic salt and butter on them (not too much). All 3 of my kids eat them this way.

Answer 4

Funny Face Pizza; Roll out canned biscuits for the crust, add pizza sauce, let kids use peas, carrott strings, lima beans, grean beans, squash for the face features and hair. It won't get lots of veggies in, but teaches that veggies are good and can be fun.

Answer 5

PUt them on the plate. If he doesn't choose to eat them he may be excused, but there will be nothing else to eat till the next meal. No dessert, no snacks, etc. He'll soon learn that it's his choice (no battles of wills here) but he'll miss out on good stuff not to mention a full tummy if he doesn't eat his veggies.

Answer 6

Try freezing them, they sometimes think their getting a treat, some kids prefer them frozen. Another idea, is dip.. you dont have to go and get a fatty dip, you can make some dip yourself, or buy some healthy ones. But I find my 4 yr old son loves "dippy" hope this helps.

Answer 7

ooohh im having the same issue..but so far i cover them with cheese and it works..or I will make something like mashed potatoes and put the veggies in the processor and mix them with the potatoes and he eats them without even noticing them

Answer 8

my mom always said, eat it or you are going to bed when you get up from the table. and it worked