Pistachios: yummy AND good for kids' fine motor skills

Rachel's found a new favorite snack:

I have just discovered the greatest fine-motor food work and added variety to my four year old's diet! I bought pistachios for a cake I was baking and my son was intrigued. I showed him how to open them and he was hooked. He is normally incredibly fussy about new foods, but he loves that he opens them and "earns" the prize himself. It's great for buying me some time too!

I started by making sure there weren't any hard-to-open ones in the bunch, but if he comes across one of those now he just calls me over for help with a "sticky one."

We had the same experience with edamame and artichokes -- my two very picky children loved the entertainment value as much as the food.

Related: 'Gateway' foods entice finicky eaters

Comments

[Karen]

Two thoughts to think carefully about:

1) It's a small hard round food, also known as a potential choking hazard. Be careful.

2) Is it a type of tree nut? I might be wrong, but it might be.

This being said, my older child loves pistachios!

[Christy]

Yea, this is one of those foods my 2 and 3 year olds love, even though they won't eat anything else.

That being said, MONITOR CLOSELY.

You can get a 5 lb bag at Costco for under $10.

[Kelly]

That is awesome. Our daughters love edamame (soybeans) for the same reason, sometimes the only place we can take our girls is out for sushi.; They love cracking sunflower seeds too.