Category: From Fear To Fun

5 Ways to get your picky eater involved in the kitchen

2/21/2023

Getting kids involved in mealtime prep can help get their mind and body ready for food consumption. It prepares them for what they will be seeing when they get to the table and it will start to (hopefully) get them hungry. We encourage you to invite your child to participate in meal prep in whatever way they can!

getting out ingredients

This is a good first step for kids who don't love to be around food. Ask them to help you move ingredients from the pantry to the counter, or to hand you an ingredient that you need when you need it. Sometimes, you may need to plan ahead and create a setting where it just makes sense for them to get the ingredient for you. Like, "Oh hey, I left a box of pasta on the couch. Can you bring it to me please?"

prepare the table

Ask your child to set up the table for mealtime. They could help set out plates, utensils, cups, etc. And, if you're serving a family style meal, you could give your child a "job" to help serve each family member different food items. Kids love to help out!

go shopping together

I know shopping may be something you just need to get through quickly, but if you have a few extra minutes, try letting your child explore some different foods at the store! Let them choose out a couple of fruits or veggies as you're walking by. Even if you just buy a small amount of it, your child may be more willing to try it later.

help prepare the food

There are so many different preparation steps your little one could help with - pouring, mixing, measuring, stirring, chopping (there are kid-friendly knives), and more. If your child won't touch the food outright, try offering a fun tool. Some kids won't dip their finger in, but they're willing to use a tool to interact with the food! Here are a few fun tools or gadgets you could try: colorful spoons, cookie cutters, a salad spinner, tongs, or one of those push whisks!

let them help plan the meal

Getting your child involved in meal planning will help your child know what to expect to see at the table, and they can help plan out which "safe food" they want to eat with the meal. If you child can read, you may even try "posting" your meals on a whiteboard weekly!

Want to learn more strategies? Check out my book
Mealtime Mindset
to help switch gears in your child's mind from fear and frustration to fun and joy.

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How Words impact your picky eater's success

1/3/2023

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How did your family talk about food growing up? Were your parents the type of parents who said, "you can't eat dessert until you finish all of your vegetables?" For some families, food is an all day event, which can be tough for our picky eaters!

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"How does it taste? Is it too hot? Too cold? Is it yummy?"

It's tough for our picky eaters to answer these questions when they are trying to focus on food - which requires all of their focus at the moment.

Their sensory systems are overloaded and they are likely in fight or flight mode so answering questions becomes a daunting task.

Instead, make general comments as if you were talking to yourself.

"These carrots are crunchy, This tastes just like grandma's. This tastes so sweet!"

Commenting reduces demands on the child to respond; they can instead just listen to you in the background.

keep demands off the table- literally

"Take a bite. Lick it. Just try it!"

Demands put pressure on kids and can cause them to backslide/regress in their eating! We want them to be excited about food and excited to eat food, which will not happen if we're constantly imposing.

replace negative with positive words

"Yuck!" "Ew!"

We want to squash these negative words! We can say things like:

"We are hurting the food's feelings" (for the younger kids)
"We don't talk about food that way" (for the rule followers)

Instead, teach your child to use their five senses to describe their experience.

"That smell tickles my nose."
"That feels sticky"
"That's a big smell"

This makes what they're feeling concrete, and means that we can overcome this! We can overcome touching sticky things, but we can't overcome something "gross" (because what does that even mean?)

Want to learn more? Listen to my free podcast episode on this exact topic for more details! Click the link here to listen in!

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7 Ways to help your picky eater during the holidays

11/22/2022

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Holiday time! This can be stressful enough without throwing a cracky picky eater on top of it! (If they would only eat something they wouldn't be so cracky, right?!). I put together 7 tips and tricks to help you make it through!

strategy #1: Have your little one help with meal prep

Depending on their age, your little one could help with chopping, pouring, scooping, stirring and more! We know that when kids are engaged with food during meal prep, it increases the chances of them consuming said foods!

STRATEGY #2: Regulate their sensory system ahead of time

Holidays can be overstimulating for our little ones - provide sensory input to help them regulate. If your child gets OT, ask them how their child's sensory system is wired so to speak to give you ideas on what to do! No OT? just observe them? Are they calm after they bounced or played in water? That would tell you that those activities are regulating to their nervous system.
Ask someone else for help if you're hosting!

STRATEGY #3: Offer a preferred food with their meal

Children are often more willing to sit down and eat with the family if there is a food on their plate that they want to eat. Don't miss this key step in the process! Preferred foods should always have a place on their table to increase comfort and feelings of safety.

STRATEGY #4: EXpose them to foods in advance

Kids are more willing to try foods they have had multiple exposures to (E.g., if you will be eating cranberry sauce during the holidays, try offering it (pre-made works too!) or even dried cranberries at least a few times beforehand.

STRATEGY #5: Chain foods and condiments

If you're working on your child eating new foods, then you'll want to introduce foods similar to what they already love based on properties (texture, color, size, etc.) (E.g., If your child loves PB&J sandwiches, try putting cranberry sauce on bread (similar to jelly in texture and color, served on something they already love)

STRATEGY #6: Serve family style

Serve all the foods at the table rather than pre-making plates and bringing them to the able. This helps them be in charge of their own plate! It also takes some of the pressure off and gives them options and choices.

STRATEGY #7: Have your child be in charge of their plate (or yours)

Let your child serve themselves (make sure a preferred food is on the table too!). This gives them a little bit of control over what they're going to eat and how much. If they don't want to put foods on their plate, ask them to help you put food on your plate instead.

Want to learn more? Listen to the podcast episode where I break down these. principles and give more detailed information! Click here to listen to the free podcast!

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Feeding Blog

5 Ways to get your picky eater involved in the kitchen

getting out ingredients

prepare the table

go shopping together

help prepare the food

let them help plan the meal

How Words impact your picky eater's success

stop interviewing,
start commenting

keep demands off the table- literally

replace negative with positive words

7 Ways to help your picky eater during the holidays

strategy #1: Have your little one help with meal prep

STRATEGY #2: Regulate their sensory system ahead of time

STRATEGY #3: Offer a preferred food with their meal

STRATEGY #4: EXpose them to foods in advance

STRATEGY #5: Chain foods and condiments

STRATEGY #6: Serve family style

STRATEGY #7: Have your child be in charge of their plate (or yours)

Author

Archive

Categories

Feeding Blog

5 Ways to get your picky eater involved in the kitchen

getting out ingredients

prepare the table

go shopping together

help prepare the food

let them help plan the meal

How Words impact your picky eater's success

stop interviewing, ​start commenting

keep demands off the table- literally

replace negative with positive words

7 Ways to help your picky eater during the holidays

strategy #1: Have your little one help with meal prep

STRATEGY #2: Regulate their sensory system ahead of time

STRATEGY #3: Offer a preferred food with their meal

STRATEGY #4: EXpose them to foods in advance

STRATEGY #5: Chain foods and condiments

STRATEGY #6: Serve family style

STRATEGY #7: Have your child be in charge of their plate (or yours)

Author

Archive

Categories

stop interviewing,
start commenting