Does it seem like your child is a picky eater? Do you dread every mealtime because you feel like you are force feeding your child? Does your child refuse to put certain foods near his or her mouth? If this sounds familiar, don’t worry—there are methods to introduce foods into a child’s repertoire in fun but meaningful ways. Feel free to introduce and work with these foods in PLAY fashion…once your child has fun with these foods, he or she may be more apt to try and taste them!
SOME MESSY PLAY IDEAS ☺
- Painting with spaghetti: Cook the spaghetti, and then when cooled, let your child paint with the noodles.
- Painting/stamping with vegetables: Does it seem like you cannot get any vegetables near your child’s mouth? Use potatoes/carrots/radishes/peppers or any vegetable that you are trying to introduce into your child’s repertoire to paint or use as stamps. You can also use targeted fruits to paint or stamp.
- Painting with purees: A puree is a creamy smooth substance made of fruits or vegetables such as applesauce or yogurt. Feel free to smooth the puree onto the table and play with your child by using your fingers to draw in the puree. Your child can working writing letters or numbers or draw pictures in the puree! If your child displays a sensory aversion to using his or her fingers, you can have him or her use a paintbrush instead.
- Sorting/stacking by color/shape into ice trays: You can work on introducing new foods while simultaneously working on increasing your child’s cognitive abilities! Pick a couple of foods that you want to introduce and use the ice trays to work on sorting. You can sort the foods by size/shape/color/ etc.
- Jello Sensory Bin/Bag: Make some jello and then put it into a container or bin and let your child play with it. You can use cookie cutters to create shapes/animals/letters. Or, you can put the jello into a bag, put small toys and/or manipulatives into it, seal it up, and use the bag as a “sensory scavenger hunt” (e.g., your child squeezes the outside of the bag in order to find the manipulatives hidden inside of it).
Remember, the more FUN you make it, the more apt your child is to experiment with these foods and eventually try them! As stated by the SOS protocol, the five steps to eating are as follows: tolerates, interacts with, smells, touches, tastes, eats. Messy play involves those first four steps in working towards eating!
