Here is the thing about toddlers: they eat everything and nothing. Simultaneously. You’d think the two are mutually exclusive but no, not with a 2 year old. Seriously, it’s like she’s always eating, yet she wants nothing that I offer her. Finding toddler meal ideas becomes an art form as you try to predict what your crazy, bipolar, tiny human little angel wants for lunch.
Every kid is different, but I would still venture to say that all toddlers speak some dialect of the same language. Once you figure out your child’s particular “dialect,” you can navigate meal times much easier. Here are my secrets that work…for now, anyway.
Toddler Meal/Snack Prep
As a #TeacherMom, I live by weekly meal prepping. I make all of my lunches/snacks for the work week on Sunday and don’t have to think about it again- super easy! So, it stands to reason that this plan would also work well for baby’s food, right?
We started making Belle’s food ‘en masse’ ahead of time when she first started solids (well, actually, I guess I’ve always had her food ready ahead of time, since she was breastfed…haha!)
Anyway, we began by pureeing fruit and veggie blends with breast milk and freezing in silicone ice cube trays. Every few days, we would just pop out a couple of cubes, defrost in the fridge and be ready to go! When they are that young, you are only really doing the prep work about once a month/3 weeks, since they eat very little.
Now that she is well into “toddlerhood” and able to eat most foods, I have had to get creative with food delivery and appearance.
Naturally, most small, finger-food type items are ideal toddler go-to’s, but if you know me, you know that I am against all things packaged. And unfortunately that is where you find most of the “finger food” type toddler snacks. While I totally cave and give her Puffs on occasion, in general I work very hard to provide quality nutrition for my little maniac.
The best way to do that is to make a bunch of snacks at once and package them up for the week. I have toyed around with some recipes that pack a lot of veggies and whole grains into cute, bite-sized portions and landed on some major wins! (I’ll leave the “misses” for another day…) Here is one you can print and try today!
“Dipping” Foods/Novelty
Toddlers love to play! If you read my last post on making Oat Flour Pancakes, you know that Belle loves anything that can be “dipped” into something else. If you can make mealtimes or snacks “fun,” they will be much more willing to comply.
Some great “Novelty” options are:
- Cut-Up Peppers dipped in Hummus
- Different fruits mixed with oatmeal/cereal- seeing blueberries or strawberries in the bowl turns it into a “fishing” game!
- Popcorn
- Cut-Up Bananas (or as we call them, Banana “circles”) seeing the food in a different form than usual makes is more exciting!
- Smoothies-lots of nutrition in a tasty, fun package!
- Frozen Applesauce in Ice-Pop Molds – We love FoodWorks Silicone Ice Pop Maker Molds!!
Note the Applesauce Pop!
Options
Toddlers are like mini-teenagers in the sense that they are trying to test boundaries and find their independence. In my classroom, a technique I often use it to present options that all lead to my desired result. Doing this allows kids to feel they have control over something. One of the best ways we help Belle transition to meal time is to ask her what color utensil she wants to use.
It may sound silly, but presenting her with options and allowing her to choose gives her the feeling of control and independence she craves, and typically allows us to start a meal with no fuss. I guess it puts her in a good mindset knowing she just made a “grown-up” choice! Another biggie is for her to choose her own straw for her cups.
You can do the same thing with outfits, shoes, music, toys, books, or even snacks!
Using “grown up” utensils
“Everything that Mommy and Daddy have MUST be better than what I have, right?” Every toddler truly believes this, so capitalize on it! Allow them to use your fork (within reason) or spoon to scoop a bite or two. This goes back to the “novelty” factor of having something different to use or focus on, but with the added bonus of it being Mommy’s or Daddy’s.
Daddy’s shoes!
Belle likes to assign possession of items:
“Lucy’s ball!”
“Daddy’s shoes!”
So being able to use Daddy’s fork really makes those scrambled eggs taste that much better 🙂
Mom Hack!
OK, one more handy tip we discovered when Belle began eating snacks: instead of giving her a plastic bowl or baggie, we used one of our silicone measuring bowls.
This was completely random, but turned out to be GENIUS because
- They are silicone, so snacks don’t slip out as she learns to balance and toddle around (i.e. less mess!)
- They are easy to hold onto.
- They are brightly colored and fun to look at.
- The come in varying sizes (because they are measuring bowls, duh) so they work for every snack!
- We didn’t have to buy them- woohoo saving $$!
We have these Good Cook Silicone Prep Measuring Bowls
You’re welcome. 🙂
I hope these toddler meal tips come in handy! Please click and download the FREE recipes for some healthy, tasty snacks to make ahead for your munchkins!
Any good tips you can add for toddler meal time?
Great tips! I have two toddlers and am always looking for tips to help me expand what they are eating and help them become more independent. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, I am so glad you liked it! I figure, if it helps me, surely someone else will find it useful!
great post! thanks for all the tips, I have two little girls so this will help me! I really enjoy your blog the layout is great and very user friendly!
Thank you I really appreciate that encouragement! It is so nice to get some feedback on the site itself in addition to the content.
Good ideas! I like the apple sauce popsicles!
They are a big hit around here 🙂 Thank you!
These are seriously fantastic tips. I think you are so amazing for meal prepping. I really, really want to do that. Also, you are so right about the dipping! My daughter will eat literally anything if there is a dip involved. My tip would be to get your toddler in the kitchen cooking with you. I started when my daughter was a baby and had her be my “taste tester”, now at age 3 she is able to cook simple dishes on her own (with supervision). If she made it, she will always eat it!
That is so cute that she is your taste tester! I love it. I have had Belle climb up and watch me make pancakes (her fav right now) and she holds a spatula to “took” (cook) with me. I should have her actually start to mess with the ingredients, too- I’m always afraid of the mess but I guess I’ll need to get over that lol!
This is so so great! My little one turns one in 3 weeks and we are starting to have mealtime battles. Where he’s not old enough to choose a color yet we can at least start implementing some of these tips! Thank you so much!
Aw isn’t it such a fun age, but the “independence” can be exhausting 🙂 Even before she could really choose colors and such, we would show Belle 2 books and she would point to one or the other. It is so fun to watch them grow into their own!
These are awesome tips! Definitely pinning this for later. My little guy is 11 months old on Saturday and I’m trying to be more creative with my food choices for him that are also healthy! haha
Aw Happy early birthday! Sounds like his birthday is close to my daughters, July 16th! I am sadly all about the healthy food- it’s really ridiculous sometimes- so I will try to add some more recipes as I go!
Oh, mama I get it! I have a 2 year old and she is ALWAYS asking to eat. But she only wants snacks. Of course. I know it’s a phase that will eventually pass, but goodness is it frustrating at times! These are all great suggestions. We found our daughter LOVES ketchup, so I offer it to her quite often. Even if that means she dips her pasta in it, haha 😉
Haha Belle literally ate COLD pasta from the fridge and dipped it in ketchup today! Ewww…but whatever works, right?!
Great tips! My kids are far from toddlers anymore, but I remember all to well the dipping obsession! My son even used to dip his orange slices into ketchup 🙁
Eww! That’s so funny. Toddlers are a strange species!
Such great tips!!! It’s amazing how much kids like to dip things!
I mean, I guess it’s a legit novelty since “dunkaroos” and all of those kids’ snacks have dipping compartments!
Feeding a toddler is so hard! One day my son likes strawberries, the next he won’t touch them! These are great tips 🙂
Hehe I feel ya! Toddlers are crazy little beings…
This is super helpful for meal times with my little guy!!
Awesome! Hopefully you found some tips you can use!
My toddler has just entered the picky phase and I am looking for so many ways to get him to eat more. I love your tips, they are fantastic. I need to make meal time more fun for him and then I’m sure he would love it!
This picky eating phase is the worst! It takes a lot of energy and planning to make sure meals go smoothly, but it’s worth it!
You’re so right… anything that can be dipped is gold!!
It’s literally like a magic wand right now!
This was great! I have a 3 year old and a 4 month old and my toddler is in a hot dog phase. Trying to get him to eat much else is like pulling teeth! I have also found that choices help make life easier. And helping in the kitchen is a huge negotiating tactic. He loves it and will do just about anything to get that as a reward. Thanks for the recipe and other ideas for food.
Thanks, I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe! I agree, choices and helping out are like currency around here 🙂