Getting a toddler to eat is one of the most challenging feats as a parent. It seems as though their tastes change on a day to day basis. One day my son will eat anything I put in front of him and the next he’ll turn his nose down at it all! One day watermelon is his favorite and the next day he won’t touch it. There really is no rhyme or reason to it. I find that if you make food “fun” it’s easier to get your little one to eat.
What you’ll need:
- Celery
- Cream cheese or vegetable dip
- Pretzels (or as my son calls them “zetzels”)
- Toothpicks
- Raisins
- Love
Directions:
- Cut (washed) celery to toddler-size pieces
- Cut a little sliver under the celery body to keep the butterflies steady
- Spread cream cheese or vegetable dip on celery
- Apply butterfly wings (pretzels)
- Insert toothpicks (antennae)
- Attach raisins on ends of
toothpicksantennae - Insta-butterfly!
- Eat & enjoy!
*I recommend you eat these soon after preparation as the pretzels will get soggy in the cream cheese/vegetable dip mixture if they sit for a while. You could also use peanut butter instead of cream cheese or vegetable dip. You just need to use a spread that’s firm enough to hold up the butterfly wings.
My mom is a parenting sensei and makes creative treats for my son all the time! Apparently, he eats EVERYTHING at his grandma’s house! La-di-da! He actually calls my mom “Mamie” which is French for grandma. So Mamie gets him to eat everything because her food is so “pretty”! Well, I got to experience this firsthand when my mom made these adorable butterfly snacks. My son gobbled them up as though he had a vendetta against butterflies. Mamie made these as an appetizer when we were over for dinner one night and my little food ninja wanted to eat all the “eyes” because they were so yummy! So he gobbled up all the raisins before we could protest…as if we would! 😉
It was really sweet to watch him get sooo interested in food as he was going through a phase where nothing really excited him food-wise. Don’t tell my mom, but he stopped eating raisins for us months prior to this! All of a sudden he likes raisins again because they’re part of a cute butterfly treat! Go figure! I don’t get it! I don’t have that problem! Everything interests me food-wise! Even if I don’t want it, I’m still interested and I will still eat it. That’s commitment!
So there you have it. Make your kid cute butterfly treats if you want them to eat. Or don’t. Either way, their tastes will change tomorrow and you’ll be facing a new set of challenges!
~ Cassie
You got your interest in food from me, Cassie! I just laughed out loud when I read “That’s commitment!”, I know exactly what you mean! I’m way over-committed, ;)! My little Angel and I started with reading a book in which were a lot of butterflies, and we studied them, counting, repeatedly!, how many eyes and wings, and he became very curious when I announced we would make Butterflies as a surprise for Mommy and Daddy! His cute little face lit up with the word Surprise, because Mommy is always teaching him the Art of giving, with little “surprises” he delivers with such excitement! So with prepped food (I mixed a little dip into cream cheese for taste, but wanted the firmness to secure the wings; and with only assembly required, I was able to keep his interest… and save a few raisins for the eyes 😉
So sweet! My little peanut loves spending time with his Mamie! 🙂