#1 Trick for Getting Kids to Eat & Enjoy Vegetables

Find out the best way to get kids to eat veggies!

As a continuation of my post How to Get Your Kids to Eat Their Veggies, I’d like to share my #1 tip that has helped me get my kids to try (and LIKE!) many new vegetables.

After many years of trial and error, I found one foolproof way to get my kids to try and eventually like new vegetables. It’s so simple, yet it really works! Here it is:

>> CREATE A FAMILY SLOGAN REGARDING VEGGIES <<

In addition to telling kids we aren’t allowed to say a food is yucky, I told them that, in our family, we follow the general guideline that if you “Try it three times, you’ll like it!”

Your slogan can be different. Maybe you would like to make it 6 times. Or 10 times. The key is that your kids know it is something special that your family does. 

I started using this trick with my oldest because she is a rule follower. I explained to her that I always like vegetables the fourth time I tried them. Every time we tried a new veggie, I would say, “Try it three times, then you’ll likeit!” in a sing-song voice with a smile on my face. To my surprise, this results in her liking 3 out of 4 vegetables by her 4^th try.  Sometimes she’ll even say on the third try, “I kind of almost like it now, Mommy!”

The mind is a powerful thing. Use the power of affirmations to your advantage in the great vegetable war! 🙂 I am still a little shocked that this works, but I know it works for other kids, too, because by using this trick I’ve also successfully convinced children who are not my own that they like previously “yucky” foods by telling them this rule at playdates. Several moms have called me saying they couldn’t believe their kids now like carrots/peas/green beans just because I told them they eventually would!