You’ve heard that food play and food exploration can help your picky eater feel more comfortable and confident around food, but you aren’t sure where to start.
Or maybe you’ve tried to plan a food exploration activity, but in the end it felt too structured or too boring, or your picky eater saw right through you.
If those hurdles to food exploration sound familiar, I encourage you to try baking together this holiday season. Sure, a Santa-shaped sugarcookie isn’t on your mile long list of foods you’d like to see your child eat, but the time in the kitchen together is so much more than the finished product.
Here are a few reasons why holiday baking counts as a meaningful food exploration activity for your picky eating this holiday season:
Holiday baking creates positive associations with cooking and being in the kitchen.
The more positive experiences around food and cooking you can create for our picky eater, the better. By starting with something they already love (like cookies), you’re meeting them where they’re at with their eating and slowly building their comfort and confidence with new foods.
Holiday baking allows for autonomy and control.
Kids often feel a lack of control when it comes to their eating; they have little to no say in what or when they eat. When baking with your picky eater I encourage you to flip the script. Allow them to take control. You can even come right out and say “Okay , today you are head chef, and I’m your helper! You tell me what to do!”
The shift in power dynamics can open your child up to trying new things.
Holiday baking creates opportunities to talk about food, ingredients, flavors, and textures.
Picky eaters tend to have a limited vocabulary when it comes to describing food. They often struggle with how to talk about unfamiliar foods beyond calling them gross, yucky, smelly, or disgusting.
As you bake, make an effort to talk about food in a more neutral way (ie., this egg is cold, the butter is smooth, these chocolate chips are sweet/bitter/hard).
Holiday baking creates an avenue for further kitchen experiences together.
This one experience can serve as a positive reference point and lay the foundation for future cooking and food exploration experiences. Tie in moments from holiday baking into future kitchen opportunities.
For example, you can invite them to help you slice a cucumber in the future by saying something like “hey can you grab that cutting board we used to roll out our cookie dough on” or “can you grab that kids knife we used to slice the butter?”
Holiday baking with picky eaters
Tips for Less Stress and More Fun
When it comes to holiday baking, I’ve been known to overcomplicate things: six different themed sugar cookies, 5 icings, 18 different sprinkles, and cookie cutters for every shape imaginable.
It always ended the same way: me stressed, and my kids done after 5 minutes.
Now? Completely different.
Here are the changes I’ve made that have made baking with my kids actually enjoyable:
- Premade dough: Make the cookie dough ahead of time or just buy some pre-made. I’ve started making half a batch and storing some in the freezer for next time. Sometimes the kids help me with the dough and other times they just join in for the decorating. The flexibility makes the whole experience feel much calmer.
- Pre portioned toppings: I portion icing and sprinkles into tiny sample cups so everyone has their own and we avoid the “mountain of sprinkles” meltdown. Don’t have small cups? Muffin liners or a muffin tin works great.
- Move to the floor: I love laying a giant piece of thick kraft paper on the floor and letting the kids decorate there. Here’s why:
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- Kids can reach everything
- Fewer spills off counters and slips off chairs
- Kids stay engaged longer as they can move around and wiggle as they wish
- The space feels more playful for kids who have anxiety around mealtimes and eating at the table.
- Keep it short: I saw this advice on how to have successful outings with your kids on Instagram once: “leave while they’re still happy.” I think that same advice applies to any food exploration or cooking experience with kids. Keep it short and wrap it up before the meltdowns begin. If anything, short + fun = “I want to do that again!
Bridging to New Foods with Sprinkles
If your child couldn’t get enough of the sprinkles during holiday baking, that excitement doesn’t have to end there. You can use that momentum to support food exploration in everyday meals.
Sprinkles, toppings, add ons whatever you call them are fun, playful, and surprisingly powerful. They add novelty without changing the core food, which can make eating feel safer and more inviting for picky eaters.
The next time your child is hesitant to eat or you’re introducing a new food, try offering a topping or sprinkle. You can even set a few options out next to their plate so they feel in control of how or whether to use them.
Sprinkles work well on
- Yogurt
- Smoothies topped with a little whipped cream
- Energy balls
- Toast (have you heard of fairy toast? So fun!)
And remember, sprinkles don’t have to be the colorful ones from the baking aisle. A sprinkle can be any small add on, like
- Granola
- Chia seeds
- Hemp hearts
- Crushed cereal
It’s a simple way to make foods feel more fun and approachable while gently building comfort with new textures and combinations.
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