Toddlers and eating. Sometimes it can be a trial. It even feels like you spend half your life sitting at the table and waiting for them to eat their greens, or try that odd new shaped vegetable that you have put in front of them….but here is a little thought for you….
Give them lots of opportunities to play with food, to explore food during the time they have away from the table, and it can encourage good eating habits. It could even make it less likely that you will have a fussy eater as they grow.
We have done a little bit of research for you on the Give as You Live site for you and found some excellent toys to help your kids love their food; from board games to ovens for them to explore cooking…you name it, we found it.
So why not come join the fun, and help them with those healthy eating habits by using imaginative play to give them a little leg up?
Board Games
Orchard Toys has produced a game that not only explores food, but other household essentials in a board game that explores early maths skills, as well as matching ones. My kids love this game, and it’s a firm favourite for travel too as it’s not too bulky.
Play cooking
Before you start sitting down to eat; perhaps you would like to get your children “making” their own food with some of the wonderful play kitchens and ovens available.
The Hotpoint Children’s Cooker at Argos would be a great place to start, as its cooking sounds make everything seem so much more realistic. It even has glowing ceramic hobs too.
If you are looking for a classic Wooden stove then you won’t do better than the stunning Brio cooker from Amazon which is black, with moveable red knobs.
Play food, drink and utensils
Playing with the foods that we are going to try, or are a little reticent about eating in the comfort of the lounge rather than the chaos of the kitchen, is a great start for fussy eaters or reluctant feeders. Particularly if they have just “cooked” them on their fantastic new play ovens :-D
The Pizza Parlour set from Green Toys allows kids to top and cut their own pizzas. Perhaps you can take a trip to your little one’s Pizza restaurant?
To make sure that your children are offering balance to you in your meals, why not serve your Pizza with some salad; we have found a gorgeous set from Green Toys. Another perfect wooden gift for anyone.
If you would rather have vegetables with your food though, Le Toy Van has a delightful crate of them for you to have as a side with your pizza :-D.
What are you going to drink with your food though? Plan Toys have this covered, as well as the accompaniments with their Food and Beverage Sets.
Plan Toys also have a gorgeous wooden tableware set, which is ideal for serving up the food that your toddlers have made.
We hope you like all these choices, and they help with those reluctant eaters.
This is a sponsored post.
Perfect List of tips for fussy eaters’ moms. Parenting is challenging and is the challenge is at its peak when kids start being fussy. I think nearly all of kids go through this phase. Even though we know they will change soon but waiting is unbearable, starts testing our patience. When my kids did this, I started trying all flavors, variety and bribing !
thanks for such a lovely content ….i really need these kind off miracle tips,
Great gift idea! They almost look tasty the kids might eat them! kidding. haha, another thing is to get fancy with the garnish of your meals.
Thanks Helen :) for this wonderful ideas
Cooperative board games are an excellent way to teach kids teamwork.
My three kids had toys like these but it did not help/prevent them from being/becoming picky eaters :-|
The only thing which would actually help was going shopping together with them, picking the the ingredients and then cooking together with them. This would help them getting used to more vegetables slowly over time.
I am getting the shopping list for amazon to try and help his talking.
I love these ideas. Thank for sharing. I’m going to try it now
Thanks for the great ideas.
Surely i can say it that, baby will like those toys. Well, I am little curious about infant. What about them? If they crying for so long? Sometimes they dont want to eat or drink anything. Then we need to soothing them. I hope it will be work for them too.
waw very nice ideas you share..Love these ideas..thanx for this sharing.
These are such great ideas – Pickle loves his little kitchen and pretending to cook me dinner! He is getting a bit fussier with what he eats though. Kaz x
These all sound like great toys. We used to love playing the Shopping List game when my kids were small.
Some fantastic toys there, Helen, we are still quite reluctant to try new veggies and some of these may actually help with getting over the fear of experimenting!xx
Great ideas – I have a fussy eater and I’m sure lots of these would have helped him when he was younger x x
Eating together and eating the same food also helps, I think.
I am getting the shopping list for Sebby to try and help his talking – Isaac is my fussy eater
What some fantastic sounding gift ideas :) x
I wish my kids loved more of their food, I’m always trying new things but they turn their nose up if it isn’t their regular food!
Love the wooden stuff and it is great to be able to give as your buy.
These all look like lovely toys that will hopefully help fussy eaters. When mine were little we had a magnetic chart to fill in every day for their 5 a day and it really helped. We also had wooden fruit and veg.
Love all these foodie ideas! I want to get a play kitchen for Athena but need to wait till we’ve (hopefully) moved house so we have a bit more room for one! That brio one looks ace!