Tapas for Toddlers

Toddlers are a riddle. Their moods and tastes seem to change frequently making meal time with toddlers a conundrum. Preparing food for a toddler is something of a guessing game. Most of your hard work can end up on the floor rather than in their tummies. Until now. I've found the best way to satisfy the pickiest of eaters is to offer a healthy variety in what I call tapas for toddlers. Getting a little one to eat their meal is less of a struggle and more like a fun-filled adventure when there are plenty of choices.

I came up this idea because of the changing tastes of my toddler and I'll keep tweaking it based on her preferences. You never know what your child is going to like. Why waste time making a big meal only to find it on the floor or worse (body paint, anyone?). The idea is to notice which food choice they gobble up fastest. Here are some ideas for tapas for toddlers:

• carrots
• raisins
• walnuts
• almonds
• crackers
• bite-size peanut butter and preserves/banana sandwiches
• snap peas
• apple slices
• orange slices
• lunch meat
• pretzels
• dried apricots
• bite-size cinnamon toast
• cucumbers
• beans (e.g. garbanzo, kidney, white beans, etc.)

Normally with the example in the photo, she'd go for the strawberries first, followed by the meat. Today, she went straight for the snap peas (see photo), followed by the oranges. The meat and the yogurt were a big fail. Guess we'll be striking those from the menu for a while. I'd love to hear about your experiments with tapas for toddlers. What works for your little ones?