Games With Food Part 2: Make Up The Rules

Yesterday's post was about touching food with game-pieces made of food.  In today's games, you make up the rules. So games can be about touching, tasting or eating food, too! Take turns picking a card, rolling a die or spinning a spinner to determine how many tastes of a food to take. You could lick a food to taste it, taste it from your finger or make bite marks in a crunchy food. Get creative with the rules!You could play this game with a game board, too. Pick a card, roll a die or spin a spinner to determine how many spaces you get to move ahead. Make a path of food on your tray (or put one piece of food on every space on a game board) and taste or eat the number you picked, rolled or spun, until someone gets to the end and wins. You could put a bite of a favorite food at the end of the board as an extra treat.The important thing to remember about making up and playing a board game with food is to agree on the rules before playing. It's trust in the structure and predictability of the game that makes exploring and touching new foods feel safe for picky eaters. If the game is too easy and you really want to change the rules half-way through playing, make sure the new rules are discussed with your child and they are on board!Language and Senses:Talk about the foods, what they feel like, what they taste like. Use positive words to describe the foods like delicious and yummy! Kids mimic our actions, facial expressions and attitudes. They may not be so sure about a food when first introduced to it, but seeing us interact with and enjoy new foods goes a long way to make picky eaters curious enough to want to try them.Get creative with your pieces and your rules and have so much fun!Happy food play!