Getting My 5 Year Old to Try New Things

I'm not big on trying new things either, but I like my kids to. You know....do as I say, not as I do. From time to time I will serve something we don't often have. I'll announce that "I've never eaten this before". Then after my first bite I'll make a big deal about how good it is and how glad I am that I tried it and we'll have to have that again. That often entices them to try it as well.

Sometimes my kids will call a food by another name. For example, they call sausage "hot dogs". When they do that I don't correct them at first. After they have eaten, I tell them the proper name of the food. In this example I might tell them it is a special kind of hot dog called sausage. I don't know how much longer I'll get away with these tricks as my oldest (4 yrs old) is getting wise, but it has worked so far.

I love it when kids are four or five years old they are so cute. Try to make it something of a big deal for your child. say i am going to make something special for you and mommy. make whatever you have in mind. tell her she can help you make it also. may be since she is helping you it may interest her to try it also when you are done.

Hi M.. We have a two bite rule in our home that works most of the time. When ever I feel the itch to try a new recipe I just go for it. Everyone has to at least take two "normal" sized bites. If they don't like it, that's fine there's pb&j or left overs they may have. (My girls are older so they help themselves!) Just a suggestion!

Hi M.,

I would just put it on their plate with the rest of their meal. A small portion of course to see if they like it. He/she will probably ask what it is and you can explain it to he/she. And tell them that you like it and it is good. I always try to have my son try at least 4 spoonfuls (his age)... and that works enough so that he can try it. Also I reintroduce foods that he didn't like in the past and sometimes we're successful. Hope this helps. Take care and God Bless!!!

~T.~

While visiting my Brother and his family last Spring, I noticed that my nephew who is 6 years old, was eating the same foods that he had been eating on our prior visit. I am not even sure how the topic came up, but I gave him a small notebook and a pen to use as a food diary. The entire time I was there he added all of the new foods he was trying to his diary and even called me 2 weeks later to report his new entries. I thought that he would forget about it soon, but his Mom called last week and said that he is still filling up the pages. It may work for your daughter. It is also a way to help with spelling and writing skills. Good Luck!!

We also use a "must try it" rule. Our 5 year old must take one bite of each food on his plate. If he doesn't like it, fine, there's cold cereal or PB & J - I'm not cooking twice.

The other thing that we found really helpful, is taking him to a farmer's market or fruit/veggie stand or short grocery shopping trips and letting him pick out anything (produce) he wants to try, and then I find a healthy recipe for it or just cook it up, and he helps. He gets a plastic knife to cut things up, I let him smell spices and herbs and pick which ones to sprinkle on whatever we are cooking. I try to make it fun....and say lets pick 3 colors to eat with dinner. If he picks green, blue and yellow, I let him pick green - watermelon, cucumber, spinach, whatever. Blue? blueberries, blue corn chips, and yellow could be pineapple or squash.

I don't have time for all this every day of course, and by making it a game and fun I've found that making meals is less of a chore to check off the to-do list, and just great family time with my child, where he learns something and I am slowing down and appreciating food and the bounty we have, as well.

My son LOVES cheese dogs, I started making angel hair pasta w/ peas and cut the hot dog like a an octopus sitting on top. I even gave him mustard eyes, and put cut up hot dogs and maybe a wrapped hershey kiss under the pasta. He had to eat the noodles to get to the treasure. Sounds crazy but it worked, I had to think on his level. It's all in the presentation, good luck !!

Hi, My daughter is very resistant to try new things and is very head strong as well, I feel your pain. It is an ongoing process for us but this is what we have been doing over the years. Everyone gets the same food on their plate. I always serve one thing that she will eat, wether it's the protein, starch or veg. If she tries the new food and truly does not like it I will gave her more of the dish she likes or a PB sandwich, but she has to taste things first. We have special cookbooks for kids, we go through them together to pick out things she thinks she may like and we make them together. Get her involved with your dinner menus and the shopping and the prep, take into consideration the reasons why she doesn't like certain things ( my daughter like things plain, nothing touches and nothing is mixed together, ie beans and hot dogs need to be served seperatly). Good luck with her, be patient ( not always easy ), and eventually she will try new things.

M.,
In our house, my husband is the PICKY O.! My 5 year old eats EVERYTHING (except Big Red gum and honey walnut cream cheese!). Just keep offering new foods and encourage her to try a bite if she seems interested. I think my son eats such a wide variety b/c I never made him a simple meal--I always just fed him what we were having. Now we go into McDonald's and he says "Do they have shrimp here?" LOL Keep trying!

M. I went through the same thing with my oldest son. He was very picky and would go on food kicks like eating nothing but hot dogs for a month. I used to really worry. I made the mistake of making a family meal and then cooking something that he would eat. (in essence 2 meals). At first when he was little it was no big deal but we sorta got stuck in that pattern for a while. My other 2 kids were both great eaters and would try just about anything. I would recommend offering his favorite coupled with something new. Present the foods in a fun way - like weird shapes etc. I had friends who made a huge deal out of foods and things had to have certain caloric and nutrient values etc. I think it promoted eating issues. I'd be casual but keep offering and make it fun. Maybe he could start helping you to "cook" some of this stuff!! Good luck - you sound like a great mom!