Do you have a picky eater? Trust me, I do, too! I have learned a lot professionally with my clients and personally with my own children about this topic and I love sharing my tips with others – because they have worked!
So here are some of my quick tips on how to get your children to try and eat new foods using play and positive behavior support techniques and how to make mealtime playful, fun, and effective!
1️⃣ Expose your children to a variety of foods and let them choose a few items to buy, cook, and eat with you each week
2️⃣ Give small portions of a few different foods at each snack or mealtime
3️⃣ Provide and pair preferred with non preferred foods
4️⃣ Let your children explore their senses and play with their food
5️⃣ Try not to be discouraged if they don’t eat anything or everything on the plate…they are learning the names of food, what they look like, what they smell like, what they feel like, and what they taste like!
6️⃣ Let them get creative, experiment, and even get messy!!
7️⃣ Think outside the box and present the food in a fun way (i.e.: bento box, ice cube tray, back of a toy dump truck)
8️⃣ Praise them for trying something new!!
9️⃣ When they are little, let them snack throughout the day instead of having pressure to eat at 3 big structured mealtimes
🔟 If all else fails you can try offering a positive reward (i.e.: sticker, mini marshmallow, chocolate chip) each time they try a non-preferred food
And try not to get discouraged. There are many reasons why children do not eat including sensory issues, developmental stage, watching the way their parents eat, and preference. Try to avoid getting into a power struggle over food, forcing them to eat, punishing them over food, and or shaming them for their eating habits. It’s a process and sometimes takes time and a lot of patience and love to get to the end game! Give yourself some grace – parenting is hard!
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