Many developmental psychologists say to offer children a variety of things but also to involve the children in the process.
In a study, researchers found that children were more likely to eat food they were involved in making like salads and desserts.
They suggest making things kids can assemble like salads and tacos. They can choose what they want to put on. (protein and other toppings.)
Their biggest tip is to start small. Let your child put a little dressing on lettuce so they feel a part of and take ownership of what they made to eat. It will motivate them to eat it if they made it.
Give yourself and your child time to adjust to this. They suggest not starting on a busy weekend where there is so much going on that you just want to get food on the table.
Information gathered from the article "Help for Picky Eaters (And Their Parents, Too!)" from General Health & Wellness, Nutrition May 28, 2019
Research from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195666318308419
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Some more ideas...
As we are getting closer to summer months and gardens, if you plant a garden, you can let your child/children help pick the food and prepare it for their meal (wash, peel, etc.).
You can also let your child/children help get food items at the grocery store. Help them make a small list for themselves of items they can find in the store when you are out and about. This will help them be more a part of the process of getting and preparing meals for them.
Some more ideas are to check out books at the library about food and read them to your child/children, sing songs that talk about food, and do art with food (potato stamps, fruit necklaces, panting with a dip and objects like carrot sticks, bananas, apple slices, celery, etc.
Another fun idea is to let your child/children create a character on their plate with their food. Peas for the eyes, spaghetti for their hair, apple slice for their mouth, etc. There are also ways you can by or make a plate with a basic face and they can add food to it to create a character. Here are a few ideas:
-Create your own face plate with paint and a plate. (Many ideas on Pinterest, type in "Food Face Plates"
- "Fred" by FOOD FACE (plates with a face where children can add food to create the rest of the face like adding peas in the shape of a hat, etc). See pictures below
