Email: whydokids@yahoo.com
Here are a few ways to save time while teaching children.
Preschoolers and school aged children can help by…
Getting their plate, cup, and silverware
Making their own sandwiches
Serving themselves
Scraping the leftover food off their plates and putting them in the sink
Cleaning their spills with easy to reach paper towels
Peeling hard boiled eggs, bananas, and mandarin oranges
NOTE: When children peel anything they are using fine motor skills that help with learning how to hold a fork and a pencil.
Emily: “I want milk.”
Adult: “Where’s your cup?”
Emily gets her cup and puts it on the table.
I give her milk.
I remove garbanzo beans from the table.
Roxy whines and looks upset.
I ask, “Do you want more?”
She uses sign language to sign the word “more.”
Roxy: “I’m done.”
Adult: “Scrape your plate.”
Roxy: “Okay”
Dora: “Can we buy those little vegetable trays today?”
Adult: “Of course!”
2 year old Eli accidentally spills the water in his cup. He gets some paper towels from under the sink and cleans his mess.
I am pouring milk for the kids. I am about to give Alex cow’s milk when Ella says, “Wait he’s allergic to cow’s milk.” I stop and say, “You are right! Thank you for reminding me that he needs almond milk.”
Children can be picky eaters. Letting them be involved in meal preparation such as spreading butter on their own toast or helping you add ingredients to a recipe can help. Children are more likely to try vegetables from their garden at home than whole vegetables from a store. Some children also like smaller bite sized vegetables with dip. Many children prefer food that they can identify. Preschoolers also like it to be separated. For example a child may eat lettuce, tomato, crackers, and eggs. However, that same child will not eat a salad. Teach children where their food comes from. Kids will eat when they are hungry. If they did not eat much you can always offer them more healthy foods every 3 to 4 hours.
Here are some reasons why kids may not be eating at meal times…
They are drinking too much – Protein foods and drinks such as milk make kids full quickly. Sippy cups usually hold 2 to 3 servings.
They are eating between meals
They are just not hungry
Serving sizes are much smaller than most adults expect
Children copy the eating habits of their peers. Even if they like a food, such as blueberries, if their friend says it gross many times they will not eat it because they want to fit in. Let’s see it in action…
Roy sees me slicing tomatoes.
He says: “Eww, potatoes…I’m not eating them.”
Ruth, who normally eats everything, says: “I’m not eating them. I want to be like you, Roy.”
I am serving lunch.
Ruth asks Irene: “Are you eating that?”
Irene replies: “No”
Ruth tells me: “I don’t want any.”
I say: “Are you sure? Last time I served this you ate it all.”
Ruth: “I’m sure.”
Quote from a picky eater – “When I don’t know what it is, I don’t like it.”
Infants (birth to 1 year) do not follow the rules above. They need to be fed on demand. Tiny infants get hungry every 2 – 4 hours during the day and night. It can be difficult to tell when an infant is hungry. One hunger cue is seeing an infant move a lot, make a fist, and put it to their mouths. When infants use a bottle, using a paced bottle feeding strategy works best to reduce the amount of spit up an infant has.
Solid baby food can be given to 6 month olds. Many parents start with rice baby cereal, then pureed vegetables, pureed fruit, regular cereal, and crackers. It is best practice to wait a few days between each new food. That way if your baby has a reaction, it will be easier to identify what food may have caused it.
With a pressure cooker you can cook chicken without defrosting it. It is also very difficult to burn anything. There are some recipes using any pressure cooker on the menus page.
