Age 4
Children’s Meals (4-5 years)
Children are interested in eating and the connection between food and their bodies.
It’s good to connect children’s motivation to eat with their natural curiosity.
★It’s fun to eat together!
Yum. Let’s eat!
Sit at the dinner table with your child and eat in an enjoyable atmosphere.
- Praise your child for eating even one bite of a food she doesn’t like.
- Let your child see adults enjoying their food.
★Establish daily routines
- Your child should go to bed early, wake up early, and eat three meals a day.
- Make sure your child gets plenty of exercise during the day so she is hungry at mealtime.
★Teach manners
- Teach your child the correct way to hold chopsticks.
- Teach your child to eat a little bit of one dish, then a little bit of another.
Say grace together.
★Mealtime
- Aim for mealtime to last about 30 minutes.
After that, if your child starts to play, it’s okay to clean up.
★Concentrate on eating
- If the T.V. is on or there are toys nearby during mealtime, your child won’t be able to concentrate on eating.
Teach your child to make conversation during mealtime.
★Let your child help with simple meal-preparation tasks to get her interested in meals.
