Whenever I served her a salad, she would sculpt it into a giant with a carrot nose and a head of bean-sprouts hair.

In her hands, raw green beans grew into wiggly snakes with sunflower-seed spines, and whole tomatoes became heads stuffed with tiny peas. For Cassandra, transforming her vegetables into monsters was a lot more fun than actually eating them.

As a mom, I realized I was getting nowhere by insisting, "Don't play with your food." So I encouraged her to keep using her creativity and hoped that it would make veggies more appealing to her.

And it did: After touching, smelling, feeling and just plain playing with her food, Cassandra eventually tasted the vegetables, too, and realized there's more to lunch than peanut butter sandwiches.

When you invite your children to play with their food, don't be surprised if they look at you in disbelief--then dig right into the project.

You supply the edible art materials (see our list), and your kids will supply the humor and imagination--and, hopefully, a healthy appetite. If you're lucky, they'll soon be having a few monsters for lunch.



Susan G. Purdy is the author of HAVE YOUR CAKE AND EAT IT, TOO (William Morrow).