A Toddler is Naturally a Picky Eater
Being a picky eater is part of what it means to be a toddler. There are developmental reasons why children between 18 months and 3 years of age pick at their food and refuse to eat anything but chicken nuggets. After a year of rapid growth, tripling their birth weight in the first year, toddlers gain weight more slowly. So they need less food. The fact that toddlers are always on the move also affects their eating patterns. They dont sit still for anything, even to eat. They are more likely to snack and graze throughout the day than to sit down to a full meal.
For more information on how to help a picky eater
Picky eating is common in the preschool years, even though knowing that doesnt make dealing with it any easier! As we have learned in our CDE courses, children learn through their senses. When it comes to food, they choose based on sight, smell and texture first, not taste! Come to think of it, so do we adults! So whats the secret to getting them to try something new? What should you, as a preschool teacher do you do about your picky preschool eaters?
The question should really be, SHOULD you do anything to make them try something new? Should you bribe them with food, a sticker or other item to talk them into it?
Imagine if someone presented a new food to you and said:
Here- try this. Just take a bite. Cmon! Its good
..Ill give you a _____ (fill in the blank
.. a paid day off, $100