Your picky child may make you feel exasperated when she turns her nose up at yet another one of your culinary creations. While you might like to dine with a knife and fork, your child may prefer to use her hands. Offer a selection of finger foods to entice her to eat healthier fare. Whether it's an attempt to present it in a fun and silly way, or giving your child the freedom to make her own creations, children's finger foods may be the answer to your dinner-time power struggles.
Finger Sandwiches
Finger sandwiches are usually reserved for parties or tea, but making child-sized sandwiches may be the way to get your child to eat healthier foods. Instead of simply cutting off the crusts and offering a sandwich, try using a cookie cutter to cut the sandwiches into interesting shapes. Your child will be delighted to eat a sandwich shaped like a star that he can eat on his own.
Cracker Stackers
Allow your child to be the chef by making her cracker stackers for lunch or snack. Put out a variety of crackers, lunch meat cut to the same size as the crackers, cheese and spreads. Your child can then choose what types of foods she wants on her crackers to make her own cracker sandwiches. It gives your child the control to make her own food while still choosing healthy options.
Fruit Kabobs
Fruit kabobs are an ideal way to entice your child to eat more fruit. Slid onto small skewers (break off the sharp edges to keep your little one safe), chunks of fruit become just the right size for little hands. Try apples, oranges, pineapple, mango and cherries for a healthy snack. You can also offer non-fat whipped topping or honey for dipping, but most children will be happy to slide the fruit off of the skewers and eat it as is.
Easy Dippers
Offering dipping sauces for a variety of foods can make your child more interested in eating them. Choosing the right food for small fingers to hold--pita chips, silver-dollar pancakes, chicken nuggets and vegetables--can make your child happy to try something new. Then, set out dipping sauces. Try peanut sauce or ranch for chicken as recommended by FamilyFun.com, tzaziki sauce for pita chips and vegetable dip or hummus for vegetables. These sauces may tempt your child into experimenting with which varieties she likes the best.
Funny Face
Presenting finger foods as a silly face on your child's place can get a laugh and urge your child to try something new. Set out finger foods like cheese cubes, fruit or hot dog slices on a plate, and then challenge your child to make a face from them, recommends the National Network for Child Care. Allow your child to eat the facial features one by one with his fingers.
