How to play the baby food game

For example , growing microgreens helps the fussy eater get used to the product in advance, understand that it is safe and can be eaten as a regular green grass, as well as in salads. And here the child has a choice, he can decide where to use the product that he himself has grown on the windowsill. It's very comfortable with picky. In this case, food games begin before the product is tasted. nine0005

At about 2 years of age, picky eating begins. Children explore the world through touch, smell, sound, taste and sight. One way to help kids get to know and love foods better is to try playing food games. The feeling of eating in a pressure-free zone allows children to engage without fear of being forced to eat said food.

After all, food games do not involve tasting. At the initial stage of the game, the child learns products through pictures or touch, when it is not necessary to taste or eat something. A good opportunity to accept the product, stop being afraid of it, then there is the stage of trying. nutrition games make it easier to accept a product than persuasion or begging. nine0005

How to encourage a child to play with food?

To expand the diet, parents should help organize food games. Up to 2 years task just don't interfere, let the baby do safe things with food, which are not always clean, but more effective in teaching fine motor skills and sensory skills.

After the age of 2 to 7 it is already necessary to help organize nutrition education activities. And it's not as difficult as it seems. Parents can get creative and encourage kids to discover the taste, smell, sound and texture of food through food games. All these steps help them move towards the main goal, which, ultimately, is to eat the product. nine0005

Offering food games to them, one should not expect an adequate adult reaction, sometimes the activity turns into a dirty event anyway. Tune in to “What happens next, I wonder? What will he do?”… these questions help parents feel more comfortable and overcome any hesitation they may have, as well as let go of the situation. Everything can be washed and repaired, it's not so important, because an omnivore is the best long-term investment in a child's health. nine0005

This is especially helpful if you are moving from not being allowed to play with your food to encouraging it. The main thing is to change the rule once and do not touch anything else. It is not necessary either to punish for games with food, or to encourage them. These throwings greatly disorientate the child. If games with food are allowed, then forever, you can only adjust the place, size of the disaster, etc. nine0005

10 learning games for the picky eater

Next, I will post different nutrition games for the picky eater. Try something your child will definitely like and help expand the child's diet.

Gradually I will add nutrition games here.

16 games and experiments with food

The main way children learn about the world is through play. And food games are no exception. We grew up in the belief that food is a special value, it is not a toy. But it is important for our children to play. It is by playing that the child learns, develops interest, begins to trust food more. How to separate play with food and play while eating, says the author of the book "Baby Food: One Meal for the Whole Family" nutritionist Alexandra Sitnova.

The importance of play

Important and useful games for the child's food interests and eating habits:

• playing with toy foods, feeding dolls and bears outside the child's meals;
• pouring cereals, sorting vegetables and fruits by color, size;
• product experiments;
• pouring water, soup, juice, milk from one container to another, even while eating: if a child pours water from a glass into a plate, this is normal; nine0102
• clenching food in a fist, spreading fingers on a plate, drawing with a finger on porridge - this is also normal;
• endowing food with the properties of toys (bitten a cutlet to make a dinosaur, laid out a Christmas tree from a cucumber, blinded a typewriter from mashed potatoes).

If a child came up with such a game himself, that's fine. All this helps the child to learn the tastes and textures, the properties of food, endow it with some qualities, and therefore make it his friend. Such games can be very dirty, but the sooner the child goes through all the stages of food games, the wider his diet will be. Children who were not allowed to play with food at an early age may show more pronounced rejection of new foods and try to play with food at an older age when they find themselves in a children's group. nine0005

What not to do?

Interferes with a good relationship with food:

• feeding toys during the child's meals, because most often, while the child is feeding the bear, the mother is quietly feeding the child;
• toys that distract the child from eating: from rattles for the little ones to a teapot with lights, which are turned on for the child to eat;
• meals in the room where the child usually plays;
nine0101 tableware with game elements: plates with a secret bottom where a toy is hidden, forks and spoons in the form of excavators and airplanes;
• parents making toys out of food: carving bears out of apples, drawing muzzles on porridge, celery palm trees, and cars out of carrots and peas.

In these cases, the child does not learn food through play, but is distracted from eating by play. He does not study textures, tastes, aromas.

Sample Games

Try the following food games that your little ones and those who are just starting school will love. nine0005

Vegetable and Fruit Guessing Bag

Place a few vegetables, real or toy, in a cloth bag or pillowcase. Ask your child to feel the bag and guess what vegetables are in it. In the next step, you can invite the child to put his hand in the bag and try to guess again. A variant of this game would be the Blindfold Guess the Vegetable game. Blindfold the child and put a vegetable in his hands. Let the child guess what kind of vegetable it is by touching, smelling, and maybe tasting it. Don't miss your round and try to guess what your child put in the bag. nine0005

Letter of the week

Every week, try a product with a certain letter, or include the maximum number of products with that letter in the menu. For example, from products with the letter M, do not forget about milk, raspberries, tangerines, carrots, meat and pasta.

Guess the odd one

Name or write four words, including three vegetables or fruits, and one extra word. For example: "carrot, potato, cat, onion." Ask your child to find the odd word. Make the game harder by using a word that is also food. For example: "celery, peppers, carrots, yogurt." Ask the child why the extra word doesn't fit the rest of the group. nine0005

Host a theme day

Offer to try different variations of the same product by hosting theme days. For example, on Apple Day, offer green apples, red apples, dried apples, celery apple soup, apple duck, applesauce, apple juice, and even apple ice cream.

Guess the food

“I am thinking of a food that starts with a letter…” Give additional clues such as color, shape, texture, etc. until the child guesses what the food is. Now let the child guess the product, and you will guess. nine0005

Raisin Meditation

A video of the Raisin Meditation can be easily found on YouTube, but we provide a simplified version for children. Choose a time when your child is not too hungry and suggest trying familiar foods again. After a few such workouts, you can move on to new foods that the child has not eaten before. Complete all steps with your child.

Hold the zest or the product of your choice. Consider it. What is she? Describe the color, size, shape, any irregularities. Is she cold or warm? Soft or hard? Smooth or rough? Smell the "flavor". What is her scent? What does she look like? Is it a sweet flavor, salty, sour? Move the "highlight" away from the nose. Do you smell the scent now? Put in your mouth. Don't chew, don't swallow. Just hold it in your mouth for a few seconds. What does the "raisins" taste like? What other product does it taste like? nine0005

Now chew. What sound do you hear when you chew? Is the product crunchy or not? Is it easy for you to chew? Is the product soft or hard? Or maybe it's sticky? Is he hot or cold? Chew carefully, feel the taste, describe it: sweet, very sweet, sweet and sour, salty, bitter… Swallow. What do you feel in your mouth? Is there a taste of "raisins" left? Want to eat another one?

Experiments and experiments

All children like experiments and experiments. Try the following food experiments with your child. He can be both a participant in the experiment and an observer. The child will be able to touch food, examine it, study its properties and become interested in it. nine0005

Salted potato experiment

Fill two small bowls with water and add a few teaspoons of salt to one of them. Label both bowls so you know which one contains the salt water. Cut the potatoes in half and place each half cut side down in a bowl. Leave for about 30 minutes and see what happens: the salt water will draw the water out of the potatoes, causing them to shrivel. Explain to the children that just as potatoes lose water when they are put in a salty solution, salty foods and drinks make people thirsty. nine0005

Red cabbage experiment

You will need red cabbage, baking soda, vinegar, water and three glasses. Finely chop the red cabbage, pour a glass of boiling water. Pour cold water into glasses. In the first, add a teaspoon of soda, in the second - a teaspoon of vinegar. Leave the third with clean water. Strain the red cabbage solution and divide into three portions. Pour a third of the solution into a glass of vinegar water, a third into a glass of soda water, and a third into a glass of clean water. The vinegar solution will turn red, the soda solution will turn blue, and in the third glass the solution will turn purple. Red cabbage juice acts as an indicator of acid-base balance, changing its color. Mix vinegar and soda solutions. You will notice the release of air bubbles, after which the solution will turn purple. nine0005

Paper clip and water experiment

You will need a glass of water, a drop of dish soap and a paper clip. Take a paperclip and carefully place it on the surface of the water. It will not sink due to the surface tension of water. If you drop a drop of dishwashing detergent, the surface tension will loosen and the paperclip will sink.

Sinks - does not sink

Fill a large bowl with water, take an apple without cuts or dents and put it in the water. The apple doesn't sink. It contains a lot of air, which allows it to float on the water. Put a pear in the same bowl and it will sink. The pear contains less air, and therefore cannot float on the surface of the water. Take a ripe pumpkin or melon, you will need a very large bowl of water or even a bucket. Put the pumpkin or melon into the water. Despite the fact that the fetus is very heavy, it does not sink, just as a person who takes air into his lungs does not drown. nine0005

Vegetable oil and water experiment

Vegetable oil is not miscible with water. Take half a glass of water, add a few tablespoons of oil and try to beat it with a fork - there will be droplets of oil on the surface. Now try to do the same with a blender, and you will see that the oil has mixed with water - the liquid has become homogeneous. But as soon as you stop whipping, after a few seconds, the oil will again gather at the surface of the water. Water is denser and sinks to the bottom, while oil is less dense and therefore rises. By adding some food coloring, you can make a homemade lava lamp. nine0005

Colored foam

Prepare colored foam. To do this, cut the lemon in half, make several cuts on the slices. Add dots of different colors of food coloring to different parts of the lemon. Sprinkle lemon with baking soda. After a few seconds, foam will begin to stand out, the reason for this is the mixing of soda and acid. The same reaction occurs when we want to bake fluffy pancakes and add soda and vinegar or soda and lemon juice to the dough. Even with kefir, soda interacts, releasing foam.

Experiment with an orange

Like an apple, an orange does not sink in water. Take a large bowl of water and put a whole orange in it. It will float on the surface. Now take out the orange, wipe it with a napkin and peel it. Put it in the water again - it will sink. The porous peel of an orange helps it stay on the surface of the water due to air molecules. As soon as we remove the peel, the orange loses its aerial protection.

Why does an apple darken?

Cut an apple into six pieces. Place an apple slice into six cups. Add water to the first glass, milk to the second, apple cider vinegar or wine vinegar to the third, baking soda to the fourth, lemon juice to the fifth, and nothing to the sixth. Sign each cup and leave for 2-2.5 hours. Only an apple in lemon juice will not darken. It darkens when exposed to air. Lemon juice contains a lot of vitamin C, which is the first to react with air and break down, while the apple remains protected. nine0005

Wash your hands before eating

Take four ziplock bags, four large paper napkins and four slices of fresh bread. Wet wipes and place one in each bag. Hold one piece of bread with dirty hands, then put it in a bag and fasten it. Treat your hands with sanitizer and hold the second piece for a minute or a little longer, put it in the second bag and also fasten it.

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