Stop playing with your food!

I see it more and more often in the news: experts advise for parents to sit down with their kids at meal times.

That in itself is a culture shock to me. As you probably know, the French are famous for their lengthy dinners with a thousand courses. Although, it is not exactly the reality, part of it is true.

I don’t know of any single families in France where parents and children don’t eat together around a table (except for toddlers who usually eat and go to bed earlier). When I was younger, we always had lunch and dinner all together. Even breakfast at the weekend. And we still do. Even now, when I visit my parents, I am expected to be on time for lunch and dinner or warn in advance that I’ll be late or eating elsewhere.

And I certainly want to do the same with my children. First it allows you to have some precious family time, just talking about everyone’s day at school or work (no tv allowed!). Second, I believe that learning table manners is an important part of the education (does that make me old-school?!).

Another known benefit of having meals as a family is the fact that kids are usually less fussy with food. If they see their parents eating something, and with a little encouragement, they’ll give it a try (especially when they’re younger).

However, it can happen that your little one doesn’t like certain foods. After all, we don’t like everything either, do we?

So, to make food more exciting for them, you could try to make it more fun. It will only take you some imagination and a few minutes (sometimes a bit more) to transform a boring sandwich or veg into something exciting for their eyes and taste buds!

It can be quite simple like making funny faces with fruits, vegs or eggs:

A Lovely Pear by Monda loves...

Strawberries by Cathy Scola

Loving Eggz by Thata Catunda

Or a bit more elaborate like slicing cheese in a cool shape or play with colours and textures (and a monster face) in a bento box:

Baby Chick Sandwich by Tiffany from Cute Food for Kids

Cheese Umbrella by Tiffany from Cute Food for Kids

Domokun Sandwich Bento by sherimiya ♥

And even though, kids are probably not hard to convinced to eat a pancake or a burger, it still looks quite cool to transform it into a funny face or a hungry monster!

Don't Eat Me! by Alex Walker

Captain Friday by breathlessconni