How Do We Get Our Kids to Try More Foods?

Are you having trouble getting your kids to try new foods?  If so, I can sympathize.  We had the same problem but came up with a creative way to solve the problem.  Hopefully, this post will help you.

Growing up, I tasted lots of different foods.  My mom had a real simple rule.  Try everything, and if you don't like it, you don't have to eat it.  I remember the first time I visited Boston with my mom when I was 13.  We were out for breakfast and I ordered an egg sandwich on a croissant.  I expected the eggs to be scrambled, but when they came, they were sunny side up with broken yolks running everywhere.  It didn't look very appealing, but following my mom's rule, I took a taste, and for the past 24 years, eating sunny side up eggs with broken yolks running everywhere has been my favorite way to eat eggs.  When I was eight, we were visiting friends in New Orleans.  They had a big brunch party and I tried quail for the first time.  A week later while introducing myself at sleep away camp, I told everyone my favorite food was quail, which was quite the departure from the typical answers of pizza, hot dogs and ice cream.

So I guess I just expected my kids would abide by the same rule and would love everything.  Clearly I have more defiant children who also possess less sophisticated  taste buds.  After several years of nothing but mac and cheese, chicken nuggets, fish sticks, corn and peas, my wife and I had seen enough.  So we asked ourselves "How Do We Get Our Kids to Try More Foods?".  The answer was a simple little game.  And sitting at Moe's tonight watching my older daughter eat a burrito with beef, rice, cheese, salsa and cilantro, and my younger daughter eat a soft taco with black beans, rice and cheese, while dipping chips in queso, I realized the game had worked.

We created a chart titled "Try a New Food Chart".  Under each child, we placed five rows each containing twenty boxes.  When one of the kids tried a new food item, they got one check.  If they liked it and ate a full serving, they got a second check.  This inspired the kids not only to try the food, but to actually give it a real chance.  When they finished each row, they got to pick out something from the Dollar Tree.  A cheap treat but one that thrilled them nonetheless.  And when they got their 100th check, they got a special surprise gift.  Once they got through four rows, it was amazing how many foods they were trying to finish that last row.  They used to ask before they tried a food "Do I get a check if I try that?".  Now, they just try the food and then they ask if it was worthy of a check.

Along the way, they realized how much they love some new foods.  Eggs prepared about five different ways, prosciutto, black beans, lamb chops, bruschetta, and so much more.  And all for about $50 in prizes.  Not a bad way to get the kids to try new foods and begin to experience the joys of eating all kinds of stuff.

Now it's your turn.  Please provide a comment on the creative ways you've tried to get your kids to eat more foods and how it's worked out.