Encouraging Preschoolers to Try New Foods?

Question

Encouraging Preschoolers to Try New Foods?

Answer 1

Are you trying them yourself?  They learn through observation.  I have found that the foods that my child does not "like" are the ones that I don't care for myself.  It's hard to encourage a child to try something if I don't do in myself.  So I started with me.  We often ask the question... Well, have you tried it today?  (This was after the conversation that our taste buds change.)  I also try the foods I don't like as well and I don't make faces LOL.

Letting the children shop for and prepare the food makes a big difference!

The children get a little of everything at our table.  Whether they "like" it or not.  I have found that just sitting their on their plate over and over again makes it "familiar" to them and they forget that they didn't "like" it.  Soon they try it without even noticing.  

I have also found that on days we have dessert, they have no problem trying things.  LOL  They know the rule is that they at least have to take one bite if they would like to enjoy their dessert.  

Ketchup.  :-)  I have one son who will eat anything if he can dip it in ketchup.

Answer 2

Include them in the cooking process, and they will be more likely to want to eat what they made.  Get a book like First Cookbook from Usborne Books for easy recipes.  You want kid-friendly recipes, but you also want them pushed a little bit, so they aren't only eating 3 foods.  You could also try Children's World Cookbook from Usborne, which contains foods and recipes from around the world, along with info about the origin and the nation.  http://www.ubah.com/g2687

Answer 3

My niece and nephew are very adventurous eaters. From my sister, I learned these tricks.

1. Offer them a small, very small, serving of the new food. My sister puts less than a 1/4 of a teaspoon on their plate.  A little bit of the food doesn't seem as overwhelming as a big bite.

2. Offer the food over and over again.   The newness and weirdness of the food wears off if you present it to them several times over the course of weeks and months.

3.  Never force them to eat bitter vegetables. Some kids have a genetic aversion to brussel sprouts and other foods.

4. When my the kids were little, my sister didn't insist that they try new foods. Now that they are 4 and 5, she does insist they take a very little bite of everything on their plate.

5. She doesn't make a big deal of it if they don't like something, but she doesn't fix them anything else to go in its place.  

As a result, my niece and nephew are more than willing to try something new, because they know they don't have to eat all of it if they don't like it. After a while of eating little bites of it, they often find they enjoy it.

Answer 4

Assuming yours is a 'how to' question, you can use the taste categories (sweet, salty, bitter, etc.), and ask them to 'taste and categorize'... just watch for possible allergies... ;-)

Answer 5

Assuming yours is a 'how to' question, you can use the taste categories (sweet, salty, bitter, etc.), and ask them to 'taste and categorize'...  just watch for possible allergies...  ;-)

Answer 6

Getting children to try new food needs to be fun and exciting. Make a game out of it for example blind folding each other tasting the food and describe what you can taste. That way you can see if they really enjoy the food. Allowing them to explore foods, give them raw ones them cook it then eat. Tell them facts like fruit and veg are healthy and make you grow big and strong!!! Exaggerate a bit with expressions and make them sound really exciting.

Also you could try all eating the same food and telling the child how yummy it is to encourage them to try a bit. Role modeling is important if your eating and telling them how much you like it will encourage them to eat it.

Hope this helps.