Try It. You’ll Like It!

By : Jodie Shield | 0 Comments | On : March 29, 2014 | Category : Adults, Babies, Kids

How I Get My Kids To Take A Taste.

Guest Post By: Jennifer Seyler, RDN

This year’s National Nutrition Month theme is “Enjoy the Taste of Eating Right.” Sounds easy, but not if you have preschoolers in the house; just getting them to take a taste is a challenge! From vegetables, to meats to really any food that is new to our kids, even cookies, there is always “an approach” my husband and I take to try to minimize their hesitation to trying the new food, and our stress at the table.

First, the foods on the kids’ plates are the same foods on our plates. This appears to decrease their initial resistance as it can’t be that bad if it is also on our plates.

Second, if the kids aren’t digging into the food, we start to emphasize how good that particular food tastes. “Mmmm, don’t these green beans taste delicious? I can’t wait to eat another one.” If that still doesn’t get them to try to the food, we ask them to try it. “Are you going to eat one piece or two pieces? I bet you are going to eat one piece and then maybe some sweet potatoes.”

At this point, if we aren’t getting any closer to the end objective, we just start playing with the food. One popular table game we play is the bunny hopping around the table with funny hats on his head, hoping that his hat doesn’t get eaten – this of course is a fork with the food on top, hopping very close to our kids mouth. They think it is hilarious to have a bunny hopping around and will generally eat the bunny’s hat laughing at the fork, and wait for another to come hopping by them again.

Other table games that seem to get them eating include building something out of their food, such as a garden or a tower. Once they build it, they can destroy it (which they love doing to everything) and then of course, eat it.

With my husband and I both working, mealtime is a large portion of our actual family time. Our “taste it please” approach helps keep the table stress down with new foods being tried most of the time – which is good enough for us.

Jennifer Seyler is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) who lives in Chicago with her husband Eric, and two sons, Major (2 ½ and Levi 1 ½.  She is the founder of Creative Eating for Kids, a site that chronicles her family’s eating adventures with practical tips and fun food photography.