The 5 Benefits Of Letting Children Play With Their Food
Telling your little ones ‘don’t play with your food is such an outdated parenting rule. With all the amazing benefits of food play, why wouldn’t you want your kiddie to experience the joy of putting an olive or raspberry on each of their little fingers?
In fact, Farm World loves food play so much that we created a whole range of healthy fruit snacks that are a whole lot of fun to play with. We all know, play is one thing that children love to do!
Now you’re probably wondering how food play can be good for your child if more of that nutritious meal is on their hands rather than in their tummy. Well, when your little one is sitting in a puddle of smashed peas while veggies are flung on the floor, they are not just making a mess but they are learning! Pressure-free playful interactions with food will help develop their motor skills, teach them about their 5 senses, improve their concentration, find comfort in trying new things and SO much more:
Teaches them how to feed themselves
Children need to learn to feed themselves (although it can be messy!). Learning how to feed yourself is one of the most complex things that any human has to learn. It requires coordination of the 5 senses, which we discuss further on. This “learning by doing” stage involves a lot of feeling, squeezing and dropping food but it’s one of the ways your child improves their fine motor skills, cognitive skills, and self-control. The pincer grasp is important because it lays the foundation for future fine motor skills like writing. Farm World fruit strings are a great and interactive finger food for toddlers (2 and up) to master these skills.
Prevents picky eaters
Food play opportunities result in less resistance (and more smiles) during meal time! Some kiddies like to practice their independence during meal time or when it comes to a specific food. Allowing them to play with their food, removes the battle, and encourages their curiosity about the food. It also gives children a sense of control by allowing them to approach it on their terms. This can be especially helpful if you have a picky eater, who doesn’t like trying anything new.
Children who are allowed to play with fruits and veggies are also – surprise! – much more likely to eat (and enjoy) them. A great way you can introduce food play and encourage healthy eating is with Farm World’s variety of yummy fruity snacks. The fruity strings, straws and snails are great for play because they are super interactive, ideal for those little hands and encourage food curiosity (with the bonus of being mess free!). You can read more about healthy eating habits for kiddies on our blog.
Teaches them about their 5 sense
Letting your tiny tot play with their food, is also a great opportunity to teach your child more about their 5 senses (visual, sound, smell, touch and taste). This can be done in many ways, but mostly done through taste, texture, smell and temperature of food. When you allow your little one to experience the food on their plate with all their senses, it helps them become more familiar and comfortable with the different foods (which again, helps out those picky eaters!).
Their plates are a sensory smorgasbord. As they smash, pour, roll and mix things, they start learning about the various foods, by feeling the different textures with their hands instead of their tongues and taking the time to smell the food and inspect it visually. This can help them learn to identify and name various foods earlier through sensory characteristics. For example, they can feel (and hear) the crunch of an apple versus the squish of blueberries and understands that the pasta is warm to the touch while ice cream is cold. The more your child explores the colours, smells, tastes, and sounds of food, the more they learn!
Improves language and cognitive skills
Research links toddlers playing with their food to better word learning. As we mentioned above, sensory characteristics are the starting point of helping kiddies learn to identify and name various foods. A higher vocabulary is also often connected with better executive function which is the mental processes that help a person focus their attention, remember instructions, and juggle tasks – something that your tot will need to be able to do as they get older. You can read more about language development in kiddies with the importance of learning about animal sounds blog (LINK NEEDED).
Food play also develops their cause-and-effect thinking, which allows them to reason about things that happen around them. Letting your child experiment with their food by squishing, and dropping it is a great way for them to use cause and effect thinking.
Keeps things positive & fun
Finally, messes are fun, and no child in the world can resist the fun. After all, mealtime means eating yummy food while playing, exploring, and learning! What could be better than that? Remember, while it may get messy, letting your child play with their food in a fun and supportive environment, will ensure they always have positive associations with it. So save that washcloth until the end, don’t worry about the pea-covered face and yoghurt-smeared hair. Enjoy the amazing learning taking place and just be happy knowing how much good she is getting out of playing time during meal time.
And if you are looking for a fun-filled way to do food play on the go or simply want to avoid mealtime mayhem, try the Farm World fruit snack range. These delicious healthy treats will keep your little one’s taste buds satisfied, hands busy and leave less of a mark!
So keep in mind moms and dads, mess equals major learning!
Disclaimer: The information is meant solely to be educational and informative. It is not meant to diagnose or treat. If you have any concerns, please contact a qualified paediatrician.
Resources:
https://now.uiowa.edu/2013/12/messy-children-make-better-learners
https://yourkidstable.com/teach-your-child-to-feed-themselves/
https://preschool.utahdanceartists.com/blog/preschool-play-with-food/