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Does your little one love trying new foods? Yeah, mine doesn’t either.

When he he was first starting out with solids, though, he surprised us with his openness to new foods. Since moving fully into toddlerhood, he has developed some preferences, that’s for sure. 

There are nights I end up making multiple dinners in an attempt to just get food in his belly. That isn’t exactly a good financial move.

I decided to dive into finding a way to curate the best dinner experience possible to get my little guy to take those bites – hopefully from the first dinner I’ve prepared!

Staying Focused

The first idea I had was that maybe he wasn’t eating because he was distracted or wanted to be doing something else, not trying a new food. 

When I did a bit of research, I found that keeping distractions to a minimum and making sure to eat together at the table is a great first step.

Diverse family sharing spaghetti meal in home dining room with white bowls and orange juice

Safe Foods

When attempting to introduce a new food to your little one, it’s helpful to pair it with two other ‘safe foods’ that you know your kiddo will be excited about or at least comfortable with. 

You also can give your little one some control by offering options for what one of the safe foods will be. That way, your child definitely will get a portion of something that is well liked. This can make getting them seated at the table a little less chaotic.

 That first time they try a new food that is completely unknown and strange, it can help to keep the portion size small so that it will seem less overwhelming at first glance. And by pairing it with those safe foods, it doesn’t feel totally unknown.

Model Behavior

Another way to get your child interested in a new food is to model the behavior for them. It can be encouraging to our little ones when we show that we are open to trying new things and we talk positively about the new food. 

Getting your kiddo involved in the meal preparation helps, too. When my son helps with chopping the veggies, stirring them around the pan or adding seasoning, he is much more apt to at least try the new food. These phrases might help build confidence:

  • “You did such a great job cooking dinner.”
  •  “Do you want to see how good it tastes?”
  • “ I couldn’t have done it without you!” 

Make It Fun

Try using cookie cutters to create fun shapes, encouraging or modeling playing with the food, making funny faces and sounds. Make it as fun as possible.

Another tactic is to offer a “no, thank you” bite. This is when the little one has to try a little taste before they can say no to the food.  

Try, Try Again

I’m not going to sugar coat it. This is a process. Even if you incorporate all of these ideas, your kiddo may still refuse the food or say “no more” after one small taste. Don’t get discouraged! It’s all about repeated exposure.

 According to the Centers for Disease Control, it can take upwards of 10 times of trying a new food before a child begins to like it.

Ten times?  You got this!

Sophie Hamel is a freelance writer and works in advocacy for victims of interpersonal violence. Her son is two-and-a-half years old.

Luminous removes the hassle of arranging for tuition vouchers and helps make childcare affordable. Vouchers can help ease your financial stress. Learn more about qualifying for HRA and ACS vouchers at our Bronx and Brooklyn centers. Payment can also be made by SEIU/1199 Child Care, check, credit card, and through the Luminous reimbursement program. Contact Luminous Early Childhood Learning Center at enrollment@luminouschildcare.org or call us at 929.228.1180.

Happy little African American boy in a pumpkin patch in autumn,

Hi, parents, and happy October! I’m so happy to celebrate my favorite season of the year. It's that time of year for fall fun with little ones. Here are some autumn- and Halloween-themed suggestions to keep your little one entertained.

As always, we are keeping these as simple as can be. Let’s get started! 

Squishy Fun

First is an activity that is great for our really tiny humans. If you plan to carve pumpkins, don’t throw away the guts of the pumpkin.

Instead, toss them in a gallon zip lock bag to create a super simple and squishy sensory activity for those 12-24-month-olds.

This way they are still involved in the pumpkin carving, but in a safe way. And this allows us parents to really focus on our own pumpkins, am I right? 

Pumpkin Washing

Another idea for our little littles is a pumpkin washing station. To keep it really simple, go for smaller pumpkins. You’ll need to grab a container, fill it with warm soapy water, and make sure there you’re set up in an area that is protected from the splashing or is OK to get wet.

Our three- and four-year-olds can really get involved in the activity by washing everyone’s pumpkins before the carving begins! 

With larger pumpkins, skip placing them in water. Instead, just give your little one a couple of washcloths and some warm soapy water. This way they can wipe down all the pumpkins, and get them nice and clean for carving. But you don’t have to find a giant tote to fill with water either. 

Sensory Bin

Another easy peasy sensory activity for our littles ones is a fall-themed sensory bin.

You could use multicolored dry pasta, pinecones, smooth acorns, or even some leaves. There is basically no mess when it comes to this activity since everything is pretty large and we parents love to hear that.

Give this one a try and let me know how it goes and how long your kiddo stayed engaged in the activity. 

Hunting for Decorations

This next one, I just did with my kiddo over the past weekend, and we had such a good time. I realized, I didn’t have any Autumn or Halloween decorations for our house! As such a huge fan of this time of year, that did not sit right with me. Lack of storage space keeps me from holding onto a lot of decorations, other than those we have for Christamas. 

So, I asked my kiddo if he wanted to go to the thrift store to pick out some decorations. Surprise, surprise, his response was “NOW?” It just so happened we had a few free hours before I had to go to work. So, I said “Sure!” and we were off. 

We headed over to our local Goodwill. I really tried to let him pick out the things he thought would be cute for our little home. He found some pumpkin string lights (LOVE), tealight candle holders (one black cat, a pumpkin, and a little ghost), a wooden pumpkin door hanger, and the cutest little stuffed pumpkin with a black top hat and black and white striped arms and legs. They are absolutely perfect.

Extra tip: Bring something to donate to the thrift store. Most thrift stores offer a coupon for making a donation. So not only was everything pretty cheap in the first place, we also got 20% off! We spent a total of only $10. And we had a great time doing it. 

But, the fun didn’t stop there. We still get to go home and decorate with our super fun finds. 

There you have it, friends! Easy peasy autumn activities to incorporate when you’ve got the time.

I hope they are just as much fun for you as they were for me. Let me know how it goes!

Sophie Hamel is a freelance writer and works as a crisis responder. Her son is a 3½-year-old preschooler.



Luminous removes the hassle of arranging for tuition vouchers and helps make childcare affordable. Vouchers can help ease your financial stress. Learn more about qualifying for HRA and ACS vouchers at our Bronx and Brooklyn centers. Payment can also be made by SEIU/1199 Child Care, check, credit card, and through the Luminous reimbursement program. Contact Luminous Early Childhood Learning Center at enrollment@luminouschildcare.orgor call us at 929.228.1180.