Thursday Tips: Focus On The Senses Series

For the next series of Thursday Tips posts here at Learn To Love Food, we're going to focus on the senses. Our senses are how we experience everything, including food. They process all of the information that help kids learn about, become comfortable with, and expand their diets to new foods.   We're all familiar with sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste, but we also have body senses like our vestibular and proprioceptive senses. These senses directly impact eating and can be affected by seating and positioning. They are just as important as our traditional '5 senses' and often need to be addressed before out brains can process what we're seeing, hearing or smelling.Over the next few weeks we're going to explore each sense, what it does for us, how it impacts eating, and strategies that can help kids feel safe with and get excited about foods. I'm looking forward to delving into these topics and I hope you'll find the information helpful and inspiring, too!Thinking about how we experience the world is a great way to help kids access and enjoy their own sensory experiences. As you explore food with your kids this week during food play, meal prep, at meals or at snacktimes, think about how you use your senses to talk about and experience food. You can pick activities from the drop-down menu on the right, think about the senses as you make or eat seasonal treats or start thinking about how your senses help you experience every activity throughout your day!Most importantly have fun and happy food play!