Getting a child to try and eat whole fruits and vegetables doesn't have to be a struggle. Current re...

1. Healthy Food Activities the Montessori Way
Getting a child to try and eat whole fruits and
vegetables doesn't have to be a struggle.
Current research reports that a child needs to
be exposed to a new food at least 8-10 times
before she will accept it as a food that she
enjoys.
In a Montessori environment, children are
given the opportunity to choose to try new
foods through fun and interesting tasting
activities. These hands-on activities engage a
child's senses and create a purposeful work in
which a child discovers new healthy foods she enjoys.
Montessori Tasting Activities
A young child explores her world through her senses. See to it that you integrate these superfoods
into your daily diet. Foods such as beans and berries are great to start. Leafy veggies, such as
broccoli, spinach, and green tea. Walnuts and whole cereals are a few other foods to include. In
addition, you may wish to consume salmon, turkey, yogurt, soybean, tomatoes, oranges, and
pumpkins. If you eat the foods in this list, you won't have to worry about your weight again.Not only
is a food appealing because of its taste, but also because of its color, shape, texture and smell. By
calling attention to each of the food's attributes as it relates to a child's senses, a tasting activity can
encourage a child to try new healthy foods. A successful beginning tasting activity often pairs one
food a child knows and likes with one new food to try.
In a Montessori environment, all activities have a process which builds other skills, so be sure to
engage the child in choosing the foods, preparing the activity and putting the
http://www.healthyfoodhouse.com/ activity away. A tasting activity begins with two different whole
foods on two separate plates, for example, slices of red apple and slices of green apple. The child
will wash her hands, pass out a dish to each person superfoods want more tips participating and
then serve each person a single piece of the familiar first food.
Once everyone is served the adult will ask open ended questions that engage each sense about the
food prior to tasting, allowing time for each child to respond in her own way. How does it smell?
What color is it? How does it feel? Does it make a sound? The longer the discussion goes on
regarding the food prior to tasting it, the more interested the child becomes in ultimately tasting the
food.
Finally, the adult will ask, "would you like to taste it?" A child is given the choice to try the food or
not. The child is then encouraged to comment upon the taste of the food, calling attention to taste
attributes. Was it sweet or sour? Was it crunchy or soft? Did it taste like she expected? Do not ask,
"did you like it?" as a child may not know and feel pressured to please the adult with her answer. If

2. she offers the opinion that she doesn't like it, the adult can respond, "maybe you will like it next time
you try it".
Follow the same procedure for tasting the second food, the new food. Ask open ended superfoods
organics supplements yoga questions comparing the smell, feel, look and taste of this food to the
first food. Encourage the child to serve herself more of either food after the tasting activity is
finished.
Tasting Activity Ideas
Choose two similar foods in different varieties:
Raw slices of green pepper and natural superfoods for nutritious red pepper
Green and red grapes
Sliced red and green apples
Bing cherries and Rainier cherries
Choose two different foods that look similar:
Raw cucumber slices and raw zucchini slices
Fresh peaches and nectarines
Fresh carrots and parsnips
Raw cauliflower and broccoli
Raspberries and blackberries
Choose two of the same foods in different states:
Fresh apricots and dried apricots
Cooked cranberries and dried cranberries
Fresh pears and canned pears
Fresh baby cucumbers and pickles
Offering healthy food choices is the first step in getting a child to try a new food. Since a young child
explores her world through her senses, trying a new food is not just about the taste but also the look,
feel, smell and sound it creates. By focusing on each sense as it relates to a particular food, before
trying the food, a child's natural curiosity and interest in the food grows and so along with it her
willingness to try it.