New Year, New Food

Does your child struggle with food variety? Here is a quick overview on how to incorporate fun and mindfulness in the expansion to food variety using our 5 senses.

Sight:

Take some time to look at a new food item. For example, a green pea. In a nonjudgemental way state facts about a green pea. It’s green, round, small… oh and if there are a bunch of peas clumped together it might look like a mound of green rocks!

Smell:

Then we will move on to smell. We can get real up close and personal and take a good whiff…does the pea smell like anything? Your child might not smell anything, or they might come up with a silly response.

Sound & Touch:

Third we will incorporate sound, does the pea have a sound? I don’t think so, but if we add touch and squish the pea it might make a splat sound! I encourage kids to use their hands or fork to increase their curiosity about new foods. The more interesting and approachable we make food, the more willingness there is to try it.

Taste:

So now we have explored what the pea looks like, whole or smashed. We tried to pinpoint a smell or a sound, and finally we went all in on texture. Now we go back to a single, whole, pea. The child can either use their fingers or fork to take a bite. After the bite is taken, we can take a moment to savor it and notice any changes in texture. This might be really challenging for someone who is averse to texture changes. I encourage parents and guardians to participate and make their own observations. “The pea squished, it is no longer round, it is soft, it tastes green…etc”. There is no wrong answer to how someone experiences food.

We try, try, and try again:

Then like all great wine sommeliers, who see, swirl, sniff, sip, and savor three times, we will try the new food item two additional times. As child, parent, and or guardian savor the pea a second and third time, continue reflecting of ways the pea changes. Does it change if there are 2 or three peas sampled at once? Does the texture change? Is there more flavor?

I hope you find surprise enjoyment in this approach,

Katherine Kunz-Harder, LPC

For more resources feel free to explore the information below:

Pop Culture Parenting with Nick and Dr. Billy Garvey- Fussy Eating

https://pop-culture-parenting.simplecast.com/episodes/ep015-hook-1992-fussy-eating-8fEJSbcU

Disordered Eating Services

Dr. Robyn Welk-Richards & Associates

890 Elm Grove Rd, Suites 100-2 & 103-B Elm Grove, WI 53122 262-506-4419

https://www.drrobynwr.com/