Finger Foods for Toddlers
When your child was an infant, he/she was completely dependent on you for all the daily chores. But now, when your child has moved on to the next phase of life of being a toddler, you need to help your kid with self feeding. Finger foods are the best food items, that can help you train self feeding to your toddler. With these foods you can turn your little toddler into a self feeding expert. But you should keep in mind that the finger foods should be such, that your kid is provided with a well-balanced nutrition.
Healthy Finger Foods for Toddlers
There are number of factors, that should be considered before providing your toddler with the finger food. Serving finger foods is one of the methods for improving motor skills of the kid. Thus, you should serve the finger food in such a manner, that it can be handled very well by the child. The finger food should be healthy and safe. Safety is important because, some finger foods may cause choking in the toddler, while consuming the food. Thus, you should choose foods that will not cause any danger to the toddler.
A finger food should make a balanced combination of all the nutrients required by the toddler, that include, proteins, carbohydrates, etc. While introducing the finger food for the first time, make sure that you provide two to three variety. This will help you to know the likes, dislikes and also about any allergy to certain food. Given below are some suggestions for finger foods for toddlers.
Vegetables and Fruits
Fruits and vegetables with so many different sizes, shapes and colors, make some of the easy finger foods. They are rich sources of all the required nutrients. Initially, you can provide a combination of fruits and vegetables, so that the toddler gets familiar to their tastes. Use soft vegetables and fruits to make it easy for the toddler to consume. Strawberries, bananas, cherries, pears, grapes, etc are some of the fruits, that can be used for preparing finger foods.
Ensure that you cut large sized fruits into small cubes or slices, small enough, so that the kid can hold the food properly. Fruits small in size, can be served whole without slicing. You can even introduce sliced vegetables as finger foods. Some vegetables can be too raw to be consumed by the toddler, so you can cook them. Potatoes, sweet potatoes, cucumbers, carrots, etc, are some of the vegetables, that can be boiled and cooked to prepare the finger food. You can also serve these fruits and vegetables with tasty dips, to encourage the kid for self feeding.
Eggs and Whole Grain
Once your kid has become an expert at eating fruits and vegetables, you can move on to protein sources and whole grain. Use hard-boiled eggs, sliced in attractive shapes, to serve as finger food. The toddler finds it easy to handle the egg due to its soft texture. Sprinkle some pepper and salt to make the boiled egg more tasty. The yellow white combination attracts the kid to taste it. Moreover, eggs are the best sources of protein, that will improve overall growth of the kid. Prepare a healthy omelet with stuffing like peas, tomato, cheese, etc. Combine the protein source with whole grain bread, tortillas, waffles, etc. Prepare sandwiches, tortilla wraps, that are nutritious for toddler's health.
Other than the finger foods given above, you can also provide your kid with cubed meats, cooked pasta with cheese, dried figs, toast sticks, cooked legumes, etc. Always serve variety of finger foods to your kid, so that he/she does not turn into a picky eater and enjoys all types of food items.
