Helping Children Try New Foods

Many young children are hesitant to try new foods. It is completely normal for children to reject foods they have never tasted before. Here are tips:

• New foods may take time. Children do not always take to new foods right away. It may many tries for a child to accept or even try a new food.
• Small portions, big benefits: let children try small portions of new foods that you enjoy. Give them a small taste at first and be patient with them. Be a good role model by trying new foods yourself.
• Try only one new food at a time. Serve something that you know your child likes along with the new food. Offering too many new foods all at once could be overwhelming.
• Offer new foods first, at the beginning of a meal, when your child is the hungriest.

Make food fun! Help your child develop healthy eating habits by getting him or her involved and making food fun! Get creative in the kitchen. Here are ideas:

• Cut food into fun and easy shapes with cookie cutters.
• Encourage your child to invent and help prepare new snacks.
• Make it mini! Bite-sized foods like sandwich sliders and anything made in mini-muffin tins are exciting.

Here is a fun way to introduce a new fruit that some kids may have not tried before – kiwi!