All little children love smiley faces, finger foods, and having fun so why not try a few of these suggestions for picky toddlers and preschoolers. They might end up eat more lunch, because they are having fun.

French fries, chicken nuggets and green beans for lunch is colorful food that they can pick up with their fingers. This lunch that is well received by Alexis; I arrange each item one by one around the plate, following the pattern I green bean, 1 chicken nugget, 1 French fry and I go around the outer portion of the plate. The center of the plate is reserved for the dip, which can be ketchup, ranch dressing, or even cheese sauce.

What toddler or preschooler does not enjoy looking at a smiley face? Serve an open-faced sandwich, on one slice of bread spread peanut butter and squeeze out a face of grape jelly.

If you are serving something like macaroni and cheese and fish nuggets, you could just make piles of each. You could put the Mac and cheese on the plate, and lay the fish nuggets on top, it gives it a bit of decoration, and who knows the toddler or preschooler maybe excited to eat it.

Toddlers love to eat with their fingers all by themselves and this is a great way to encourage them to eat. It also helps with those fine motor skills which as so needed later on when they begin to hold a pencil. If you spoon feed your toddler all the time, they are missing out on a wonderful fun filled learning activity.

Preschoolers are big enough to handle eating utensils on their own, but it is still fun to eat some things with their hands. Feed their desires, because even at this age they are still getting those fine motor skills in check.

Chicken or fish nuggets, hot dogs sliced in little pieces, chicken pulled from the bone and chopped in bite size pieces call for dips. Dips include mustard, ketchup, mayo, ranch dressing, sweet and sour sauce, or any other condiment they enjoy. Do not be worried if these children also dunk vegetables in a dip.

Sometimes they like the dip better, then the actual food, so if you are having a hard time getting your child eat a certain vegetable adding a dip will help you out there. Ranch dressing on home fries may sound gross to you but adding the dressing might get your child to eat this.

My own children have always enjoyed dips, ever since they were little. My middle child will not eat meat even ham without ketchup, which made for some gross Christmas dinner plates for him. As long as he ate well I did not worry, and now that he is a teenager, the ketchup has been replaced with hot sauce, which smells far worse in my opinion.

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