More and more I've seen sights that advertise Japanese style Bento lunches for kids. I've been intrigued about these types of lunches ever since I heard about them on one of the podcasts I frequently listen to. Being a mother of picky eater I often will resort to many different tactics to get him to eat more healthily. I think most moms out there struggle with the frustration of trying to get our kids to eat something that's nutritious. Toddlers tend to be grazers, a phase that will pass once they get a bit older....or so I'm told. My son is no exception to that rule and so I try little creative "tricks" in the hope that I will get more food into his tiny tummy. He loves protein and dairy so getting him to eat meat, eggs, and his all time favorite, milk is no problem. He likes some fruit but veggies, not so much. I'm a big believer in the ever controversial hiding of purees into his meals but sometimes that's not always a practical option. It was after listening to a podcast where Bento style lunches for kids were talked about that I decided that I might give that a try. Although I haven't yet invested in the actual authentic Bento lunch kits, food separators, or condiment holders I try to do something similar when serving my finicky little munchkin.
Using cookie cutters I'll make cute little shapes out of his sandwiches or burgers. I don't have to resort to doing this with his meats since he likes proteins but if you happen to have a kid who doesn't like them as much you could do the same for their chicken or steak. I recommend cutting around the cookie cutter shape with a sharp paring knife after the meat has been cooked. I try to cube his meats and fruits whenever possible and have started putting them on kabob skewers to make them look a bit more fun. Obviously you need to be cautious when giving your kid a pointy object that could be used as a lethal weapon, so you could cut the sharp tips off once you've skewered the food. There are several plastic skewers that you can find on-line for purchase. You might also want to direct your child to eat the food sideways so that both hands are holding the ends of the skewer. The skewers make eating the normal everyday foods a bit more fun and you could also add a few newer foods in between the ones they already like. I try to use smaller plastic dishes to put his sides or fruit in to help keep everything separate and to make it look a bit different than just stuff sitting on it's own little space on his plate. For lunches and snacks I try to give him the "big" boy school experience and put his foods in a lunch box. It's a nice little surprise for him to open it up and see what goodies are in there. I also find that he eats more food overall and I can control how much of each item I want him to eat based on the size of the bag that I put his foods in. For example, my son loves the "Pirates Booty" popcorn so I will put that in one of the smaller snack size baggies so it looks like there's more of it than there really is. All he cares about is finishing the bag so in his mind he's eaten a lot of popcorn. I'll put the "good" stuff that I really want him to eat in a larger bag so in his mind there's not that much of it. I want my son to eat fruits but I don't like him to fill up on them so that he won't try the other new foods I've given him. One way to avoid this is that I will try to slice his grapes in half or cube his watermelon much smaller than normal. I think you get the picture. Although I'm resorting to a bit of eye trickery it allows me to have better control over his intake of foods I prefer him to have vs. those that I want to limit. Since veggies are the troubled spot in his diet I have found that he will drink his veggies without any issues. They sell many fruit/veggie blended juices at the stores but I find it just as easy to make your own. You can buy the juice in bigger sizes and also control the juice-water ratio this way. I always put veggies on his plate and try to load them up in as many things that I can. As I previously mentioned I'm a big fan of hiding pureed veggies in his foods. My son loves spaghetti so I will add a puree of whatever veggie I have on hand but I always add peas and carrots to the sauce. Even if he doesn't always eat the veggies he sees on his plate at least I know he's eaten a decent portion from what's been hidden in the food. Overall I try to provide at least one food item I know he will eat and one new item I hope he will at least try. I also try to take advantage of the moments when he's most hungry to give him something new. He's most likely to try it at that time and since he's hungry he'll take more bites of it before deciding if he likes it or not. Lastly, my son doesn't have much of a sweet tooth but when he does I don't try to make a big deal out of it. If it's close to a mealtime and he wants something sweet, I will give him one "adult sized" bite of whatever it is he wants at the same time that I serve him his meal. I have found that he will usually only take a bite or two out of the "sweet" stuff and then eat mostly all of his regular meal.
These are just some examples of what I have personally tried. Here are some links to some of the Bento style lunch ideas that I came across: http://www.anotherlunch.com/ and http://wendolonia.com/blog/ and lastly my favorite goto moms when it comes to making nutritious meals/choices for our families: http://mealmakeovermoms.com/kitchen/ .
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