Growing children need a well-balanced diet to support their development. However, it is during the toddler and preschool years that many children become picky about what they eat. As a parent, you can help your child get the proper nutrition and make meals fun at the same time. There are ways for your child to enjoy the goodness of natural and organic food, without it being a power struggle.

Involve your child. It is a good idea to involve your child in the selection and preparation of meals. Bring your child along when you’re shopping for food and allow him or her to become involved in the in the kitchen. Instill the importance of non toxic cleaning, explain how eco cleaning products and non toxic cleaners can help save the environment and at the same time protect people from exposure to bad chemicals. In addition, you can even try to plant your own organic vegetables in your garden. Involving your child in a number of ways will help encourage him or her to eat because the value of the food has become personal.

Choose delicious and nutritious foods. “Nutritious” doesn’t have to mean “bland-tasting.” There are ways to make food more nutritionally valuable. For example, putting carrots and mushrooms in a bowl of spaghetti, or mixing berries with milk and making a smoothie are two simple ways of adding taste and nutrition to a meal.

Make it fun. Serve fruits and veggies with dipping sauces. Cut sandwiches into shapes with cookie cutters. Turn a plate of food into a smiley face.

Don’t force your kid to eat the food. Let your child discover his own rhythm when it comes to eating. Just like an adult, a child will have moods and have varying sensitivities to different tastes. You don’t have to endure a power struggle. If your kid is refusing to eat something, don’t force it. Give another type of food in the meantime and just try to offer it at some other time.

Offer food in small amounts. Don’t present food in large quantities. Collect just a few amount per type of food so that you won’t feel like your child is wasting the food you prepared if he or she refuses to eat it. If your child happens to like the food, he’ll ask for more of it and in this way, he’ll feel a little bit more involved or in control.

Cut out snacks. If your child comes to the table hungry, he or she will be more motivated to eat.

Be sneaky. Add purred vegetables to tomato sauce and even brownies! There are special cookbooks available that are devoted to this specialty!

Be patient when introducing new food. It takes time for a child to get used to the variety of foods your family is enjoying. Remember that at preschool age, your child will probably try to assert independence. Forcing a food on your child’s plate will probably be seen as threatening and might cause your child to rebel.

Do not offer dessert as a reward. Denying your child dessert implies that it is the best part of the meal, only increasing the desire for it. Select specific nights for dessert no matter what your child eats, and serve healthier dessert options on the other nights.

Remember that during mealtimes, it is important that you and your child observe proper hygiene. Always use eco friendly cleaners and baby safe natural cleaners to make sure you’ll be doing non toxic cleaning. One such example of environmentally friendly cleaning products is BabyGanics Fine and Handy Foaming Hand Soap, which helps make sure that you don’t expose yourself and your child to harmful chemicals.

BabyGanics, a leading maker of baby safe natural cleaners and environmentally friendly cleaning products, promotes non toxic cleaning so that parents can keep their homes clean and safe for their kids, pets and the entire family. Non toxic cleaners and eco friendly cleaners or eco cleaning products are a great alternative for people who wish to live a sustainable, green lifestyle.