The T1 classroom would like to welcome Shaun who joined our class at the end of January and to say goodbye to Alex who moved up to primary. Our class has been busy with many things like snack preparation, learning practical life skills, and working on small and large motor skills as well. As we prepare snack everyday there are some children who really enjoy snack and others who can be particular about what they eat.

So what do we do with picky eaters? Well, we (the teacher and assistants) let them choose if they want to eat or not, but we don’t offer an alternative. We offer different fruits and vegetables each week usually with a grain. Lately, we’ve been trying food at small group time. In January, we tried tomatoes, watermelon, sweet potatoes, and baked apples. The children have been enjoying our taste testing. Some tell us “no thank you” to the vegetables and that’s okay. We still try and reintroduce food and we are continuing to try new foods. In February, we’ll prepare cooked carrots and broccoli, spaghetti squash, pomegranate, and smoothies with spinach and kale.

Toddlers use their senses to figure out their environment. We will be baking and making smelling jars for the toddlers to use. Spices like ginger and cinnamon sticks are fun to smell. Orange peel and pickles are just a variety of smelling jars to make.

So, when you’re at home try to remember to give your child that first experience with a food by letting your child hold the fruit or vegetable, by cutting it open and smelling it, and then, by tasting it prepared in different ways. Keep reintroducing the same food at different times especially if he or she is apprehensive. There’s no need to push food on children. If they’re hungry they will eat. But if you give into them every time they want a sweet treat or a cracker high in carbohydrates then a picky eater they will become.

Snacks to try at home:

-apples and peanut/sun butter

– cooked carrots at first to get used to the taste (Raw carrots can be hard for toddlers to bite and swallow)

– cooked spaghetti squash either plain or with a small amount of olive oil.

– Brown rice with fresh cut roma tomatoes

– Cucumbers and wheat thins

-pita bread and hummus

Sincerely,

Kristy