Products to Get Picky Eaters to Eat

Most kids go through a picky eating stage. My middle son refused to eat anything green for two years . . . even green candy. My oldest wouldn’t touch any mixed foods and to this day doesn’t eat anything on his pasta. Trying to get picky eaters to eat can be frustrating, challenging and confusing. What are you supposed to do? Let them go hungry? Feed them something they’ll eat, even if that means mac and cheese every day for months? Force them to eat their broccoli?

While there are a number of ways to get picky eaters to eat, we’re going to focus on specific products that have been tested and approved by parents and kids. Some of these are so ingenious, I wish I’d known about them when my kids were smaller!

Dinner Winner Plates

These plates are such a neat idea! I learned about them from a mom’s group, where one mother swore by it and everyone else needed ot know where she got the plate from. Turns out, there’s five different plates you can use!

Each Dinner Winner plate is a game that you add food to. Kids have to eat their way around the game board in order to “win.” Seriously awesome idea!

Vegetable Cutters

I collected plenty of these when my older kids were small and these cutters are perfect for quickly adding a fun touch to a kid’s plate. You don’t need to make fancy food all the time, but sometimes it is a good way to give your children a reason to try a new food. I once made cucumber bears surfing on a lettuce leaf wave with carrot surfboards. It took a few extra minutes, but it got them to try the food! This collection gives you tons of options.

Construction Eating Set

For the picky eater who is also a big construction fan, this unique dinner set might be the key to get picky eaters to eat. The utensils are construction machines with little wheels, which will appeal to any truck loving child and the plate is made to look like a construction zone. This is something my kids would have absolutely adored when they were small.

Eat Healthy, Feel Great Book

This is a great book to explain nutrition to children in terms they can understand. One of the standout points from the book is the fact that they use traffic light colors to classify foods . . . red, green, or yellow light foods. They also explain that some foods are just sometimes foods and shouldn’t be eaten all the time (like birthday cake). Overall, it’s an informative book that is interesting enough to keep your picky eaters interested and offers good illustrations, as well as some excellent advice.

Healthy Habits Plates

Do your kids respond to hearing that certain foods give them muscles or help with eyesight? Then they’ll appreciate this plate that shows where to put the various types of food and approximate amounts. Just don’t be surprised if you’re instructed to add more vegetables or fruits by your toddler, as they tend to take these dishes very seriously.

Food Face Plates

These ones actually have been around for a long while and I love the concept of them. Basically, you have a plate with a face and you add food to make it look like hair, jewelry, etc. A fun way to make this work with kiddos is to set out a tray with foods and have them select the decorations themselves, with the only caveat being that they need to eat what they pick. There are Mr. and Mrs. Food Plates.