Some kids are going to be satisfied with your claims that broccoli florets are “little trees” that they, a monster, must devour. And other kids are going to be like, “Broccoli is gross and so is eating trees, and I’m not falling for that shit.”
For the kids who fall into the latter group, you may need to step up your game if you want them to eat more fruits and veggies. One way to do this, according to mom Jane Stine on Facebook, is by taking notes from the big food companies that are better at manipulating our kids than we are:
Stine tells Popsugar that her trick of applying the stickers in-store and letting her kids “pick out” the produce is working:
Not only is it helping her kids be more interested in veggies, it’s helping them to be less distracted by other foods associated with kiddo franchises while at the supermarket. “It’s working well for us to make grocery shopping more fun and helps us from getting distracted by other character-based packaging and stick to our grocery list!” Jane told POPSUGAR, noting that she recently found
study from Cornell that suggests what she’s doing definitely works in some cases
.
If you don’t want to attract odd looks from the Wegman’s produce manager, though, you could also opt for a solo grocery shopping trip and add the stickers to the bags or outer skins of the fruits and vegetables when you get home.
Then when it’s time for a meal or snack, let the kids pick from a stash of Dora the Explorer bananas, Elmo apple slices, Mickey Mouse bell peppers or Daniel Tiger carrot sticks.
Meet the smartest parents on Earth! Join our parenting Facebook group.