Got a kiddy that doesn't eat their lunch at school?
Here's 10 tips to get your kiddy eating their lunch at school
1. Fill them up at breakfast with a protein based meal to keep them going at school (eg eggs, bacon and veges, porridge with fruit yoghurt nuts and seeds or homemade Baked Beans). This will set them up for the day, and make you worry less, if they don't eat so great at school.
2. Put small bit sized bits of food in their lunches that they can shove in and eat with minimal effort. Here we have bits of sausage, cheese, meatballs, nuts and a slice of pork, bliss balls and muesli bar. All small pieces of energy dense food.
3. Keep the lunches small so they're not overwhelmed by too much food.
4. Add small pieces of fruit like cherry tomatoes and berries or add in their favourites that you know they'll eat (like peaches!)
5. Usually kids are just too busy playing with their friends to be bothered with eating, but sometimes there are other reasons kiddies aren't eating. Find out what the reason is and try and fix it ... don't like their food or lunchbox? Getting teased about their lunches? Unhappy or stressed out at school?
6. Get your kiddy to help choose and make their lunchbox. Get kids involved as much as possible, with choosing, preparing and cooking meals. Not only will they learn valuable life skills, but they are more likely to accept food and eat it, if they've had a hand in making it. 7. Talk to them about what to eat at morning tea and lunch time and write them wee notes to remind them what to eat at each school break. 8. Helping them to listen to her body,. For example Miss 10 does not recognise her hunger signals. She came home from school, one day, feeling awful, low in energy and sad. Once I worked out all was well at school, I fed her an early dinner and as soon as her belly was full, she was feeling 100%. Gentle reminders that when we feel, sad or yuk or tired, it can just be our body telling us we are hungry! 9. Put vegetables in their lunchbox! Choose ones they like and put dips with them like, hummus, peanut butter, cream cheese, salsa or pate.
10. Buy some Funky vegetables. Purple Carrots are our family favourite and at $2.29 a kilo, they are wallet friendly. They taste similar to normal carrots, but look cooler and when eaten raw make the kids tongues go black and purple. So they are a total winner! You can buy all sorts of purple veges: kumara, cauli, broccoli, beetroot, potatoes.... If your local Fruit and Veg store don't stock them, ask them to!