It’s not every day that I have the motivation to be some kind of “supermom.” (You know the ones who are exceptionally organized, stay on top of laundry and know how to make food fun for children?)

But the feeling of wanting to do something outside the ordinary occasionally visits, and I get a splash of “momspiration”. (Did I just coin that word🤔🥳?) So, when I had this experience, I realised it might be helpful to share it with other parents who needed to learn How to Make Food Fun for Children.

Do you have picky eaters? Do your children complain about eating the same food all the time? 

Well, if you have children who say their food is boring, then this post is for you. Here are some ways to make meals fun for children!

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How to Make Food Interesting, Fun and Appealing for Children

Once upon a time as I was preparing a lunch for my brood at home, I had a burst of zeal to do things a little differently.

The food on hand was a simple rice with canned corned beef. It would have turned out the typical way but for some reason, I decided to make this meal interesting, fun and appealing for my children!

Instead of just plain old rice, I thought of giving the rice a different colour. As my eyes scanned the counters, I caught sight of some curry seasoning.That led to the decision to have yellow rice.

The corned beef got no special treatment – it was simply heated in a pan with a little cooking oil. I admit – nothing fancy there!

However, when it was time to serve, that’s where things came to life!

Instead of using a regular serving spoon to scoop the rice directly into the plates, I used a smaller spoon to squeeze some rice into a small cup.

(Funny point: At that time the children had just got some toy kitchen utensils as gifts from their grandparents. The toy set included small plastic cups – those were what we used, and they worked perfectly!)

When we turned the cup of rice upside down, what came out was a round shaped rice. We added another one beside it and the creativity peaked. We immediately realised that those rice scoops could be eyeballs, and I used a fork to tease the meat into a crescent shape. 

That would be the mouth!

Then, of course, came the ketchup irises and nose, and voila, a simple meal that could have been a boring monotony suddenly looked fun and interesting🤗!

Needless to say, it was well-received👍🏽.

How to Make Meals Fun for Children

From this experience with our smiling dinner, I learned some general rules about what works for making meals interesting for children. Here are some tips on ways to make food fun for children.

1. Use What You Have

As you can observe from my short testimonial, all we had on hand for that meal were:

• plain rice
• curry seasoning
• canned beef
• cups
• fork
• Oh, and don’t forget the ketchup!

We jumped in without going out to buy anything to add to that meal. So, adding some extra appeal to a meal does not require you to go shopping all the time.

We did not need to forego the whole thing because of not having something fancy. With a little creativity and thinking on our feet, we turned all of those ingredients and utensils into a fun meal for the children!

2. Let Your Children Have a Say and Participate

When this smiling dinner was being prepared the children were not in their room or watching the TV. They were right there in the kitchen with me!

In fact, we even made a video for their dad showing him what they had done. They were very excited about the whole experience and were happy to tell him about it.

So, if you’re looking for ways to make food fun even for toddlers, this is the way to go. Get them involved as much as they are willing to. 

In fact, you can let older children take the reins while you watch (unless they want to surprise you, in which case you swallow hard, force a smile and go back to your room to pray fervently!)

Either way, as you get your children involved in meal preparation, be sure to keep everything safe for your children in the kitchen! We don’t want any accidents  

to ruin the fun and turn mealtime into a hospital visit! 

3. Do it With Joy

Busy moms can sometimes find it easy to focus on the negatives, especially when dealing with other stress factors. But as a parent and homemaker, it pays to learn how to be fully present in the moments with your children.

In those precious moments when they are with you in the kitchen and are helping to prepare a meal, let it be light-hearted. 

Try not to rush them. Be patient with them and give room for error. 

Don’t make such a big deal about spills and accidents. Just correct them gently and move on. 

If you have a sour attitude but still have all the ingredients a kitchen can hold, your children will not enjoy the meal preparation experience. Then when they eat, their food could be connected with unpleasant memories, and we don’t want that. We want our children to have fun memories of their meals and have an improved attitude towards their food.

So, make sure to have fun in the kitchen with your children, because if you’re having fun, they will have fun too. That will make a huge difference in getting a meal to be appealing for your children.

Other Tips to Make Food Fun for Children

As you wait for something to finish being cooked (like the rice in this example), it’s important to keep the momentum going by:

1. cleaning the kitchen – sing some songs and use the assembly line approach!
2. watching some food preparation or food vlogger videos on YouTube – my youngest daughter loves many of the tiny cooking videos!
3. making a warm or cold drink to go with the upcoming meal – you can let them choose their colours and flavours!
4. having your children choose their plates and cups – they can try to match colours with their outfits or just choose a pattern they haven’t tried before.

What simple innovations are you using to engage your children at mealtime? 

Leave your answers in the comments and be sure to subscribe to our newsletter🥳.