pretty as a picture

I have found that packaging has a lot of influence over decisions children make.  I know.....DUH!!  That's why companies spend so much money gearing their advertising, etc towards children.  However, I've never noticed it being that much of an issue with food choices my girls make, but it is a big factor with my little 2 year old terror.  If given a choice - which he likes - he will study the 2 things, whether it be movies, cereal, fruit, etc. and it takes him a couple of minutes to make a decision.  But he looks at the pictures and decides from there.  For example, Cheerios vs. Rice Krispies - RK have the cool little snap, crackle, pop men on the front; Cheerios - a yellow box with....well, Cheerios on the front.  He chooses the krispies.  There are other examples, but the point is, packaging makes a difference.  Now, the easy solution to that is only give him 2 good choices, so it won't matter what he chooses.  For my older children, I have been teaching them how to read nutrition labels and what they mean, so hopefully they will be able to make better choices when away from me.  But what about fruits and veggies that don't come in pretty, fun packages?  How can I get them to choose the "ugly" one?! 

okay, so maybe not this ugly

But this is what I have been working on - presentation.  I'm thinking that if I make healthy foods look fun and pretty and just, well, HAPPY, then the kids will want to eat them.  This is an ongoing "project", but I'm sure I will post pics of things that work and don't.

You can't get much prettier than this!  My kids love a fruit salad.

I'm trying to keep containers full of fresh fruits and veggies - ready to eat, in the fridge.

I thought this was a beautiful fruit/veggie tray!  I just knew the kids would be excited about trying all the different things, some from our own garden!

My 7 yr old is trying squash in one hand, and has a cucumber in the other.  I'm thinking this is a good sign!

But after dinner, all the veggies are still sitting there - but the fruit is history!

Obviously, it's a work in progress!!  We'll see how my "making happy food" works out.  I've been checking out the blog lunchbox limbo, there are many cute ideas for making food look happy :-D