closer to ten out of ten. And we all got a fabulous trip to the zoo. We had to use two charts in total for foods such as tomato and tuna (so she tested these ones twenty times) but now she eats these foods without needing a reward.
Be persistent and patient because a child’s taste buds should not dictate what goes on the family’s dinner menu each night (maybe occasionally). Make a rewards chart and give your child’s taste buds a lesson in being brave and adventurous. This could take a while so in the meantime you can implement this next point...
Must-do number 5
Tell your child: ‘You don’t have to like the taste of it.’ Kids can have the misguided notion that you should only eat the yummiest foods. They reason: why eat fruit if chocolate cookies are congregating in the cupboard? But, as previously mentioned, eating is not purely to entertain your taste buds—and kids should be told this. Teach your young child about their taste buds and how they are not the boss of dinner time. ‘You are the boss, not your taste buds. Your taste buds might want you to eat a food that makes your tummy feel sick.’ You could also add: ‘Eating is something you do to grow strong and vegetables are the superfoods that will help you grow strong and feel happy.’ Or mention this: ‘Biscuits may taste good but they can make it hard to think properly when at school—silly taste buds!’
Your child does not have to like the taste of a new food but let them know their taste buds will become more ‘grown up’ if they are adventurous and try new flavours. You could make an ‘adventure tasting plate’ once or twice a week. On this plate, serve your child new foods such as cucumber, grilled eggplant and capsicum and grainy crackers with hummus or pesto. (See the Adventure Tasting Game.)
Activity 1: Your child’s tastes
Write down five activities that your child really, really, really loves to do. If your child is between the ages of two and ten you can make a rewards chart (see ‘My Reward Chart’) and with their help, list several foods or meals that you’d like them to try ten times. Choose at least one green food such as silver beet or baby spinach. Then link the reward to an activity that your child loves. For example, if your child loves to watch DVDs, link the reward to a special family movie night where your child gets to choose the DVD and you’ll make popcorn for the special event. If your child is too old for the chart (possibly from the age of eleven), simply follow must-do’s 1 and 5.
If your child is a fussy baby or toddler, be patient and persistent. Make sure you offer a large variety of foods and flavours over the coming weeks. Offer fruit only after they have eaten something savoury as the sweetness can create favouritism for sugary foods. Give them lots of vegetables. You can initially make them more bland and more palatable by mixing them with baby rice cereal.
Must-do number 6
Limit junk food to specific days. As you know, junk food is a ‘sometimes’ food. Iceblocks, chocolate, chips and biscuits do not offer any goodness and they make healthy foods taste bland in comparison. So it’s vital that these taste-bud terrorists be limited to set days. Let your child know exactly when they can expect to eat their favourite treat. For example, make up a slogan such as, ‘Iceblock day is Friday after school’. Slogans (or quiet, agreeable rules) are wonderful for preventing food tantrums and they promote more healthy eating habits. Children love knowing the rules about junk foods or ‘sometimes’ foods. So let them know exactly when they can expect ‘chocolate day’ to occur—I guarantee they’ll never again launch themselves on the floor of the supermarket lolly isle in a chocolate-deprived rage.(Read ‘How to prevent junk food tantrums’.)
How to prevent junk food tantrums
My daughter and her two friends returned with a bag of lollies so big that I wondered if they had just robbed Santa at
Be persistent and patient because a child’s taste buds should not dictate what goes on the family’s dinner menu each night (maybe occasionally). Make a rewards chart and give your child’s taste buds a lesson in being brave and adventurous. This could take a while so in the meantime you can implement this next point...
Must-do number 5
Tell your child: ‘You don’t have to like the taste of it.’ Kids can have the misguided notion that you should only eat the yummiest foods. They reason: why eat fruit if chocolate cookies are congregating in the cupboard? But, as previously mentioned, eating is not purely to entertain your taste buds—and kids should be told this. Teach your young child about their taste buds and how they are not the boss of dinner time. ‘You are the boss, not your taste buds. Your taste buds might want you to eat a food that makes your tummy feel sick.’ You could also add: ‘Eating is something you do to grow strong and vegetables are the superfoods that will help you grow strong and feel happy.’ Or mention this: ‘Biscuits may taste good but they can make it hard to think properly when at school—silly taste buds!’
Your child does not have to like the taste of a new food but let them know their taste buds will become more ‘grown up’ if they are adventurous and try new flavours. You could make an ‘adventure tasting plate’ once or twice a week. On this plate, serve your child new foods such as cucumber, grilled eggplant and capsicum and grainy crackers with hummus or pesto. (See the Adventure Tasting Game.)
Activity 1: Your child’s tastes
Write down five activities that your child really, really, really loves to do. If your child is between the ages of two and ten you can make a rewards chart (see ‘My Reward Chart’) and with their help, list several foods or meals that you’d like them to try ten times. Choose at least one green food such as silver beet or baby spinach. Then link the reward to an activity that your child loves. For example, if your child loves to watch DVDs, link the reward to a special family movie night where your child gets to choose the DVD and you’ll make popcorn for the special event. If your child is too old for the chart (possibly from the age of eleven), simply follow must-do’s 1 and 5.
If your child is a fussy baby or toddler, be patient and persistent. Make sure you offer a large variety of foods and flavours over the coming weeks. Offer fruit only after they have eaten something savoury as the sweetness can create favouritism for sugary foods. Give them lots of vegetables. You can initially make them more bland and more palatable by mixing them with baby rice cereal.
Must-do number 6
Limit junk food to specific days. As you know, junk food is a ‘sometimes’ food. Iceblocks, chocolate, chips and biscuits do not offer any goodness and they make healthy foods taste bland in comparison. So it’s vital that these taste-bud terrorists be limited to set days. Let your child know exactly when they can expect to eat their favourite treat. For example, make up a slogan such as, ‘Iceblock day is Friday after school’. Slogans (or quiet, agreeable rules) are wonderful for preventing food tantrums and they promote more healthy eating habits. Children love knowing the rules about junk foods or ‘sometimes’ foods. So let them know exactly when they can expect ‘chocolate day’ to occur—I guarantee they’ll never again launch themselves on the floor of the supermarket lolly isle in a chocolate-deprived rage.(Read ‘How to prevent junk food tantrums’.)
How to prevent junk food tantrums
My daughter and her two friends returned with a bag of lollies so big that I wondered if they had just robbed Santa at
Similar Books
