“Don’t play with your food!” Let’s face it, we’ve all heard, have had said to us, or have said this phrase ourselves to the miniature humans who depend on us. One day I was wondering where this phrase came from, so I turned to Google. The oracle of the internet responded with, “Don’t play with your food” is a common piece of advice that means you should concentrate on eating, not playing with your food.
The justification of the phrases existence were as follows:
- Playing with food can be messy.
- It can be disrespectful to the person who prepared the food.
- It can take longer to eat.
- It can be wasteful.
After reading that list, it is pretty plain to see why I have only heard adults say this! Jeeze! Now, I’m totally on board with the fact that food waste is never good, and yes there can be disrespect toward people who made the food. But, if you’ve ever been around a kid, messes happen and things always take longer than expected, so is limiting the exploration of food really worth it for those reasons?
A study published in the journal Appetite in 2019 showed that playing with food can be a creative and important part of child development. It can help children learn about the world, develop a positive association with food, and build their brains. It can also help them develop their senses and learn about cause and effect. The journal cited examples of food play such as carving faces out of pancakes, building a “campfire” out of pretzels and cheese, or putting an olive or raspberry on each finger. The study also showed that when allowing children to be involved in making their meals, the children ate more of a food they prepared themselves. Finally, providing children with tasks during meals that give them autonomy in how they prepare their foods also greatly increases willingness to eat new and novel foods. This study was the lightbulb moment for me behind why every millennial child loved lunchables, and now is obsessed with charcuterie boards and cheese boards.
After looking over this study I tried to come up with an idea for a kid friendly meal idea that target three things. Promote autonomy, provide new food exposure, and give a chance for some fine motor skills. We came up with the game, “Order Up!”
First I had my children, and some of our nieces and a nephew cut strips of paper. Next using markers they stamped five colors on each strip of paper. I encouraged them to make random combinations, patterns – whatever they wanted.
I had already cut up different fruits and vegetables, and had them laid out in front of the kids the entire time. I prepared bite-sized pieces of some of their favorite fruits and veggies, intentionally mixed in a variety of fruits and veggies that are not on their preferred list, and added some new fruits and veggies they had never tried.
Once each kid had created their three slips of paper I mixed the slips of paper up and handed them out along with three bamboo skewers. At this point our niece said, “Oh I get it, we’re going to use the fruits and veggies to match the combination on our slips of paper.” To which I responded, “Yep, and once you finish it you say, ‘Order Up!”
The entire activity took about an hour to do and you know what, between the five children and two adults, three plates of fruits and veggies were almost polished off. I watched my son eat an entire skewer of mango and LOVE it, and our daughter ate all three orders even with foods I know she has actively avoided in the past. It really was a great way to try new things, have fun together, and focus on nutrition – all through playing with our food!
For further information on the benefits eating the rainbow, look here! To find out what exciting rainbow of foods we’re currently offering here at Weaver’s Orchard, check here!
