Some children refuse to eat vegetables. But since vegetables is important in the growth and development of children, we need to encourage the little ones to eat more so that they will grow up to have balanced eating habits.

When better to do that than now. The timing is perfect to do just this. With the abundance of fresh summer produce, we could give our kids more choices. Hence, making it a bit easier to entice them to eat more.

I have found that the easiest way was to take note of my son's favorite food and try to incorporate a variety of vegetables (initially in small amounts) in the recipe. In addition, since my son is home, I made sure to make him actively participate in food shopping. I make it fun and exciting, even when we are at the vegetable section.

I also try out different recipes to entice my child. As creative as I try to be, I still need all the help that I could get. I ask friends which recipe worked for them and I search online for more ideas. One of the best site I have seen is All Recipes. It has a wide variety of Vegetable Dishes for Kids which you might like to try out.

Since my son is at the stage when his instinct is to say "no", I also make sure that I offer him options so that the chances of him saying yes to some of the vegetables I offer is bigger. Sneaky, maybe. Effective, yes.

How about YOU? What do you do to encourage your child?