Enjoying new foods with your family is an opportunity to grown towards a healthy eating pattern. Whether this is their first time trying a new food, it is important to talk to your children and encourage them to make new fun food choices.

Here are a few tips in getting your child to try new foods!

Offer a new food first, at the beginning of a meal.  

Children are more likely to eat a new veggie or food when they are hungry.  Be sure to serve them the new food before serving the rest of the meal.

Prepare new foods in many different ways.  

Sometimes it is not the food the child does not like; it is how the food is prepared.  If your child does not like the food the first time, try it again either raw or cooked in a dish rather than by itself.

Engage your children in foods by having them describe the food by color, shape, feel, smell, and sound!  

This can make dinner entertaining!  Ask your children to describer the food in positive ways! Making trying new foods fun can help them develop their “taste” for a variety of foods!

Get them out in the garden and let them grow their favorite veggie!  

If you have a garden or even a small container, have your children grow a new vegetable or fruit and let them decide how to make it it!

Try new foods with your children.

 Children learn from watching others.  If you try a new food, they are more likely to try foods with you.

Food variety makes eating more interesting and incorporates a variety of foods into a healthy eating pattern.