Making Mealtime Fun: Play With Your Food!
Aarone Cefalo, OTD, OTR/L
As a pediatric occupational therapist, I often work with families facing mealtimes that are stressful and a battle every time. Picky eating, food refusal, and difficulty with textures are common concerns that can leave parents and kids feeling frustrated. By incorporating play, games, and a little creativity, you can transform feeding challenges into fun opportunities for exploration and growth.
Understanding the Challenge:
Before diving into the fun stuff, it's important to understand that feeding difficulties can stem from various underlying issues. These might include sensory sensitivities, oral motor challenges, or even learned aversions. It's always a good idea to consult with your pediatrician or a feeding specialist to rule out any medical concerns and get personalized recommendations.
Turning Mealtime into Playtime:
The key to making mealtime more enjoyable is to reduce the pressure and increase the fun.
Here are some playful strategies you can try at home:
● Food as Art: Let your child explore food with their senses before expecting them to eat it. Use different colored fruits and vegetables to create faces, animals, or patterns on a plate. Think beyond just eating – let them squish, roll, and explore the textures.
● Dipping Fun: Dips can be a game changer! Offer a variety of dips like hummus, yogurt, or guacamole alongside veggies, chicken nuggets, fries, crackers, etc. It can encourage them to try new flavors. Make it a game by seeing who can make the biggest dip "mountain" or by creating a "dip rainbow."
● Food Games: Turn mealtime into a game! Try these ideas:
○ "Food Hide and Seek": Hide small pieces of food in bowls of uncooked rice or pasta or around the kitchen or dining room and let your child look for them and discover them.
○ "Taste Test Challenge": Try getting foods from different brands, different shapes, or different flavors of the same food. Score the foods on different things like appearance, taste, smell, etc.
○ "Build a Face": Use different foods to create a funny face on a plate. Eyes could be blueberries, a nose a cherry tomato, and a mouth a slice of banana. There are many ideas online.
● Sensory Exploration Games:
○ Mystery Box: Place a food item in a box with a hole just large enough for a hand to fit through. Have the child reach in and describe the texture, shape, and temperature of the food without looking.
○ Food Painting: Use pureed foods like yogurt, pudding, applesauce, or hummus as paint and let the child create artwork on a large piece of paper or a clean placemat. This encourages playful exploration of different colors and textures.
○ Food Collage: Provide a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables, cut into different shapes and sizes. Let the child create a collage on a plate or piece of parchment paper. This promotes creativity and introduces new foods in a fun way.
● Level Up with a Food Chart: Create a simple chart where your child can "level up" as they learn about foods through different steps (look at it, touch it with a utensil, touch with fingers, smell, lick, bite, swallow, etc.)
● Sensory Bins: A bin filled with dry rice, beans, or pasta can help desensitize their hands and make them more comfortable with different textures. You can even hide small food items in the bin for them to find. You could also make a sensory bin with things that are taste safe (edible slime or play doh, tapioca pearls, cooked rice or pasta).
● Involve Your Child in Food Preparation: Let your child help with simple tasks like washing vegetables, stirring ingredients, or setting the table. This can increase their interest in food and make them more likely to be willing to learn about the foods being provided.
● Keep it fun and playful: The goal is to create positive experiences with food, not to pressure the child to eat.
Remember the Importance of Patience:
Introducing new foods and changing eating habits takes time and patience. Don't get discouraged if your child doesn't immediately embrace every new food you offer. Keep offering a variety of food options. The goal is to create positive associations with food and make mealtime an enjoyable experience for the whole family.
When to Seek Professional Help:
If you have concerns about your child's feeding, don't hesitate to reach out to a pediatric occupational therapist or other feeding specialist. They can provide personalized strategies and support to help your child develop healthy eating habits.
By making mealtime fun and engaging, you can help your child develop a positive relationship with food and build essential skills for a lifetime of healthy eating.