Give them new foods with favorites they already love, then give the new foods interesting names.
Noodles and Magic Beans are a favorite in my house. Our daughter LOVES noodles, and one day I wanted to add some vegetables. I had some lima beans, but just the words "lima beans" sound kind of gross to small children. So, I named them "magic beans." They were gobbled up in no time as were seconds. The next day they were requested for lunch and again for dinner. She was hooked.
2) Hook Them With a Book
Our daughter LOVES books. So, when a food is mentioned in a book, we really zero in on it. When our daughter fell in love with the book "Yoko" by Rosemary Wells, she became fixated on sushi. We've made real sushi and she likes it takes a fair bit of time and effort to do so. So, we started making sandwich sushi.
3) Make it a Theme
My daughter will go through some pretty funny stages. One day she'll love basketball more than anything else in the world, the next if could be teddy bears. Then there are some themes that always sell, like kitties. One day she couldn't get enough baseball, so I made a "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" lunch. And we pretended to be at the ballpark while singing the song and eating.
