Picture Menus

by: Trish Kuffner, author of The Toddler's Busy Book
If your toddler always wants the same meals, try giving her a picture menu with other choices before mealtime.

Picture Menus


If you like to give your child a choice at mealtime, but he tends to want the same meals day after day, picture menus may be the answer.

Materials

  • Pictures of your child's favorite meals
  • Heavy paper
  • Glue
  • Magnetic clip

Directions

  1. Plan several different meals that you know your child likes, being sure to include a variety of healthy foods (fruits or vegetables, protein foods, and grains) in each one.
  2. Cut out pictures of each meal from grocery store flyers, coupons, product labels, or magazine pictures.
  3. Glue the pictures to index cards or pieces of heavy paper (one meal per page) and hang them on a magnetic clip on the refrigerator.
  4. After your child chooses a meal he'd like, move that card to a different location until all the cards have been used up, then start over. Your child still has a choice, but there will be less arguing, indecision, and monotony.