![green-vegetables](https://food.unl.edu/newsletters/images/green-vegetables.jpg)
Many young children are hesitant to try new foods. It is completely normal for children to reject foods they have never tasted before. Here are tips:
- New foods may take time. Children do not always take to new foods right away. It may many tries for a child to accept or even try a new food.
- Small portions, big benefits: let children try small portions of new foods that you enjoy. Give them a small taste at first and be patient with them. Be a good role model by trying new foods yourself.
- Try only one new food at a time. Serve something that you know your child likes along with the new food. Offering too many new foods all at once could be overwhelming.
- Offer new foods first, at the beginning of a meal, when your child is the hungriest.
Make food fun! Help your child develop healthy eating habits by getting him or her involved and making food fun! Get creative in the kitchen. Here are ideas:
- Cut food into fun and easy shapes with cookie cutters.
- Encourage your child to invent and help prepare new snacks.
- Make it mini! Bite-sized foods like sandwich sliders and anything made in mini-muffin tins are exciting.
Here is a fun way to introduce a new fruit that some kids may have not tried before – kiwi!
![Bunny face shaped with fruit](https://food.unl.edu/recipes/bunny-face.png)
Photo by Marusa Jonas
Bunny Face
Yield: 1 serving
Ingredients:
- ½ of a whole wheat English muffin
- 1 Tablespoon low-fat strawberry cream cheese
- ½ of a kiwi, gently rubbed under cool running water, peeled and cut in half
- 2 small blueberries, gently washed under cold running water
- 1 strawberry, gently washed under cold running water and cut in the shape of a triangle
- 6 pretzel sticks
Directions:
- Wash hands with soap and water.
- Spread cream cheese on English muffin.
- Have your child decorate with blueberries for the eyes, strawberry for the nose, pretzel sticks for the whiskers and kiwi slices for the ears.
Nutrition Information:
- Calories 137
- Total Fat 3g
- Sodium 215mg
- Total Carbohydrates 23g
- Fiber 2.5g
Source:
Healthy Tips for Picky Eaters, MyPlate, United States Department of Agriculture
This newsletter has been peer-reviewed. It was reviewed and updated in 2023.
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Our goal is to help parents and caregivers prepare healthy meals and snacks by sharing recipes, tips and ideas that are geared for children ages 2 to 5.