By Bieke Biesbrouck
Would you like to teach your child more about healthy food? Do you sometimes have trouble with banana refusing toddlers or preschoolers at home? Do you feel that you always talk 'negatively' or 'compellingly' about fruits and vegetables with your children? Or do you just want to get your kids more excited about banana?
Then throw it over the HÖNGRY bow!
The struggle around healthy food.
First and foremost, I am not a nutritionist, I like to leave that work to experts. What I am, however, is mom of a toddler and a preschooler. I like to see life in a creative way and love a touch of humor. It is easier to connect with children through fantasy and humor than through 'must' and abstract words such as 'healthy and vitamins'.
When my daughter was 4 she suddenly didn't want to eat a banana anymore. My 2-year-old son had happily squeezed his banana between his hands and ate it with relish. The contrast couldn't be greater but I didn't see a direct cause. No matter how much I begged, rewarded or insisted, that banana didn't go in with Mathilde. I also didn't like to 'negotiate' about healthy food like that.
I took a different tack next time and didn't respond to refusing the banana. I decided to inspire them with cheerful and imaginative facts about the banana. Curious how I did that? 
THE 5 TIPS TO MAKE BANANA FUN
1. Why are happy bananas crooked?
I told both children that the banana was the happiest fruit I knew and if they knew why? The banana contains small magical substances that ensure that bananas always feel happy and if you eat one, you also feel happier. By the way, it is completely true that bananas help with that happy feeling, they contain tryptophan with which your body can produce serotonin (happiness hormone). I went one step further and said that because of those magical substances, a banana can tell the best jokes and therefore laughs crookedly. 
TIP: Use facts but tell them in a child-sized way. Such as: 'why is the banana bent?'. Name the shape of the banana and teach them something about crooked versus straight. You can then link this to something fun like laughing. Very nice to depict. Hilarity galore.
2. Tell banana jokes
"Mommy, what jokes do those bananas tell?" my daughter asked. Below you will find my 3 favorite banana jokes, which can easily be retold by toddlers.
- There were 2 bananas in the bed, one says to the other: 'say! Lie up!'
- "Do you know where bananas grow?" "On a banana tree?" "See, I knew I had to ask a monkey!"
- "It's yellow and it hangs on the back of your car?" "A banana trailer!"
credit photo: Bram Debaere
TIP : Tell/teach them jokes about bananas or other fruits and vegetables. Laughing with fruit and vegetables immediately gives a good vibe and removes the 'negative' from the conversation. Very nice to hear when the jokes linger and are repeated. Is your child less into jokes? Then go to tip number 3!
3. You open a banana at its bottom.
There's nothing funnier for toddlers and preschoolers than "turd," "poop," "poop," AND "butt." As parents, we make good use of that. Fact: A banana opens much more easily at the end and not the stem, so let's call that end butt. I showed Mathilde that she should squeeze the bottom of the banana to make it easier to open the peel and tadaaa. She laughed as she peeled the banana, immediately a more positive start to banana eating.
TIP : Name pieces of fruit in the world of children such as 'butt'. 
4. Show your color with banana.
Colors are fascinating to children. I told my kids that if they saw a banana, they should look very closely at the color of the banana. "Why mom?" Ah! I had their attention. I said that the color of a banana shows whether it wants to be eaten. A green banana is not yet ripe. A light yellow banana is a bit ready, a yellow banana is eager to be eaten and a banana with brown specks shows that you should eat it quickly. Since I told this to the children, they comment on the bananas in the store and that always makes me (and bystanders) laugh.
TIP : Name the color variations of banana and explain what they mean. It gives your child the feeling that they are learning and can judge for themselves whether or not they can eat something. 
5. Lola Banana, the chill lollipop
Lola Banaan was born through all the jokes and fabrications. A funny person based on characteristics of the banana. Lola is everyone's friend. She uses humor as a weapon against negativity or conflict. For her, a healthy life means: feeling good about yourself & regularly chilling on the banana bottoms. She takes it easy and the shell (opened through her ass) is her hat. She gets a solid 10 for atmosphere and fun. I often involve Lola in conversations, for example: 'Would you like a Lola Banana to school?', 'Do something crazy like Lola?'. 'Do you know another Lola Banana joke?'. 
TIP : Fantasize about banana and connect human things to it, it makes them more recognizable for children. If you are not such a fantasizing person yourself, the HÖNGRY booklets will help with that. In the 'Going with that banana' book, Lola and her 8 friends are introduced through rhyme and attention to color. Ideal during the reading moment.
THE RESULT? MORE POSITIVITY AROUND BANANA
My daughter has been eating bananas ever since and some days she won't and that's perfectly okay. It is especially important not to talk about 'no', 'I don't want that' or 'please eat your banana'. I would like to maintain positivity when eating fruits and vegetables.
NEED MORE INSPIRATION?
HÖNGRY is happy to help you because our mission is to bring children into contact with fruit and vegetables in an imaginative way. Check out our 'Go with that Banana' booklet and our other products here .
