35 snack ideas for fussy eaters

Catering to fussy eaters can be a nightmare. You lovingly create Pinterest worthy recipes, only to have them rejected. Often this means parents begin to gradually retreat. Instead of serving new options they get boxed into serving the same things over and over.

Unfortunately, when you do this, it can exacerbate a child’s narrowing of their diet and increase the rigidity, meaning they want exactly the same thing every time.

Serving variety is a key part of supporting your child to eat more widely — even if they are not eating new things.

If you only serve crackers, for example, your child thinks ‘snack is crackers’. The longer you do this, the more those patterns become entrenched.

Presenting new options does not, however, mean wasting lots of food. You can:

a) Adjust the volume — serve really small portions. Which I would advise anyway as they are far easier to contemplate than larger servings

b) Recycle — many foods that are not eaten can either be put back into the packet or if fresh, used for another snack/meal.

Snacks are a great learning opportunity as they are low pressure.

I recommend serving a food a child is okay eating but also making sure there is something new to build a comfort level with too.