3 Simple Ways to Make Mealtime More Fun! {AND A NUBY GIVEAWAY}

I don't know about you, but I find myself giving my two year old the same food options on repeat because I know he likes them and because it's easy. But that gets old for both of us very quickly, so I have come up with 3 simple ways to make mealtime more fun for both you and your child.

1.) Play with the shapes of their food

Kids love to have fun, so why not play with their food? An easy way to do this is by changing the shape of their food. The common way to do this is by using a cookie cutter. You can easily make your child's boring PB&J into a heart or a dinosaur. Another way to play with the shapes of their food is by using an ice cube tray! My toddler loves mashed potatoes and he eats them often so instead of serving them mashed in the usual way I decided to change it up. I filled a cat shaped ice cube tray with the potatoes and then froze them. I then took them out of the freezer, brushed some melted butter on top, added a little salt and pepper then baked them at 180 degrees for 18 minutes and he loved them! The foods you could freeze in ice cube trays are endless (applesauce, yogurt, any puree, sweet potatoes, etc.!) IKEA has inexpensive ice cube trays in a variety of shapes if you are looking for some.

2.) Serve Fruits and Veggies with some kind of spread
Let's be honest, it can be hard to serve fruits and veggies to your picky eater. My toddler loves cream cheese and he loves crackers so I decided to just make my own version of a fruit pizza for him to eat. Choose a spread that your child likes (cream cheese, peanut butter, Nutella, hummus) and think of how to add fruits or veggies to it. I will be trying the cream cheese and cracker pizza idea with vegetables next time!

3.) Present food in a brand new way
Visual presentation is important to a child and to us too, right? My toddler doesn't love lunch meat so I have tried to present it in a few different ways. I tried wrapping it in a tortilla and then saw this idea on Pinterest of using a pretzel stick. I simple wrapped lunch meat around string cheese and then used a knife to make an X and stuck the pretzel stick through. Aiden had fun holding on to the lunch meat this way and while he still didn't proceed to actually eat the lunch meat, he at least tried it, which is progress.

The Sure Grip Miracle Mats pictured above make presentation at mealtime much easier because it is a divided plate. It also makes me think about how to incorporate more food groups into each of my child's meals. These mats stick to the table, my child's high chair tray, counters, etc. and are dishwasher safe. It is nice to have a plate you know is secure and won't be flipped over, or chucked across the room!

If you'd like to get one of these mats for FREE, 

hop over to my Instagram: @allie_renner for a chance to win one!

Throughout this month, Babies R'Us is having sales on many other Nuby mealtime items that could also help make mealtime more fun for you and your kids. Here are some details on the sale so head to your nearest Babies R' Us (or visit their website) to snatch up some mealtime items for yourself!

Sale includes bottles, cups, mealtime, bottle accessories and bottle dish soap

Buy 1 Get 10% off

Buy 2 Get 20% off

Buy 3 or more Get 30% off

Sale runs through March 26th!

What do you do or use to make mealtime fun?

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