Veggie Taste Test for Kids
A frequent complaint I hear among my mom friends is that their kids will not eat vegetables. Often times, kids do not even know if they like vegetables or not since they will not try them. I aimed to solve this problem by doing a veggie taste test with my kids so they could expand their palates and have more fun mealtimes. I cut up a variety of vegetables and presented them on a chip and dip tray with some ranch dressing. My kids love dipping chicken nuggets in ranch dressing, so I thought it would be a good idea to pair something they enjoyed with food items they may not be very excited about. I think this colorful array of veggies on a tray looks very inviting, but I am a vegetable eating mom. Would my kids feel the same way?
I quickly printed out a sheet for them to use in their veggie taste test. You can do the same, or just write one up on a piece of paper. I simply wrote down the names of the veggies we were trying and made a yes and no column that the kids could check after they tried the vegetable.
The taste test was on! My daughter started with a pepper. But she liked them! I think the ranch dressing helped a lot. If your child is not into ranch dressing, you can fill the middle of the chip and dip tray with hummus or any kind of dip your child might like.
If your child is not into ranch dressing, you can fill the middle of the chip and dip tray with hummus or any kind of dip your child might like. I was so excited to see my older daughter try some broccoli. She didn’t like it, but she has never even tried it before. We have served it at dinner and she has refused to even taste it. This was a big step for her.
I think having a taste test where the kids get to write down their likes and dislikes, makes everything seem very official. We discovered from this taste test that one of kids really likes zucchini.We never would have guessed that as she has refused to even try it in the past. She ate all the zucchini on the platter.
So if you have some veggie-phobic kids at home, give the taste test a try. They might just discover a new favorite food!
