Most of us understand that teaching children to cook from a young age will help them become better eaters and chefs as they grow up, but did you know that simply touching, smelling, and hearing foods will all help with child development before they have even started to taste it?
This is because the sensory experience we get from playing with food is really important in helping children with their speech and language, emotional development, fine motor skills and processing abilities.
So, while we were all taught not to play with food when we were young, the truth is, our parents had it all wrong. In fact, playing with food could be hugely beneficial and here’s why.
Helps with fussy eaters
Children learn through play, so why should it be different when it comes to food education?
We expect them to try different flavours and cope with unfamiliar textures, but if they have never touched, seen, smelt or listened to these foods before, they won’t feel comfortable putting them in their mouths.
Instead, letting children handle floppy cooked spaghetti, squish a banana between their fingers, and break a cracker in their hands teaches them about their texture, the sound they will make, how they will feel to eat, and even what they might taste like based on their scent.
We don’t just use our sense of taste when we eat, but all five of our senses, including touch, smell, sight and hearing. This is why when we have a blocked nose, we sometimes struggle to taste things because we can’t properly smell them.
Therefore, before they even think about eating an avocado, trying a lentil curry, or tasting a crunchy apple, it is important they are allowed to discover new foods in a playful way.
This builds familiarity with the ingredients and increases willingness to taste new foods once they have accepted their texture, smell and sound first. As there is no pressure to eat the food, unlike at a dinner table, they will feel less anxious about being around the ingredient and, therefore, more likely to discover the new sensations.
By introducing foods in this way, whether you play with dry rice, squidgy dough, or slimy jelly, you are desensitising the body’s response to the foods, normalising the sensory experience. Once it has become usual to them, they no longer fear it and it creates a positive association with the food, as they have had fun playing with it in the past.
For instance, if a baby smears porridge over themselves at breakfast, it is important to let them enjoy this moment, as they are becoming used to the texture and they will be more likely to put it in their mouths when they are comfortable with it.
This is particularly important when it comes to fruit and veg they haven’t tried yet, as research shows that 89 per cent of kids between five and ten years old eat less than the recommended three to five portions of fruit and veg a day. What’s more, nearly a third of children in this age group eat less than one portion.
Social and emotional development
You might be surprised to find out that playing with food can also boost a child’s social and emotional development. For example, it helps kids talk about their favourite meals, and their likes and dislikes, which teaches them to understand and respect others’ tastes.
It encourages them to tell stories about foods and textures, take turns, share, and co-operate with each other, which is essential for other forms of play.
Messy play is also good for emotional regulation, as it can calm down those who are sensory seekers and need more sensory integration throughout their day. By meeting their sensory needs, they are more likely to feel settled and better able to process their emotions.
On the other hand, if their sensory needs are not met, they will continue to feel dysregulated, which can lead to them overreacting, lashing out, or having a build up of anxiety.
Sensory development
Lots of kids love sensory play, from play dough to kinetic sand, water play to finger painting, and this is because it is the most natural way for children to learn.
Having multisensory experiences means they can understand spatial awareness, strength and force, temperature changes, and develop creative thinking.
Some children have sensory processing disorder(SPD), which means they find it hard to process sensory information. For instance, noise might be exaggerated to them and they might hate the sound of a hand dryer; the texture of some foods might feel repulsive to them; or they may find it hard to smell a really strong scent.
Our reactions to the world around us are not the same, particularly for those with SPD, which is why helping children with their sensory development helps them process the environmental sensations in a more balanced way.
Providing opportunities for children to explore different senses all at once, whether they are making a macaroni necklace, drawing snow angels in flour with their dolls, or smashing ice with a hammer to reveal little toy dinosaurs inside, both meets the needs of those who seek multi-sensory experiences and encourages sensory development in those who avoid them.
Indeed, some children jump at the chance to get their hands mucky or to propel themselves on a swing, while others avoid different sensory outputs, and might have an aversion to certain textures, tastes or temperatures.
By encouraging sensory play, parents can help them become more familiar around things they are uncomfortable with, so their aversion weakens over time.
Develops fine motor skills
Playing with food is also great at helping children develop their fine motor skills, which is needed for them to write. When they begin school at four years old, they will start using a pencil a lot more, but before this, parents can help develop their motor strength through messy play.
For instance, they could knead dough for bread, squish mash potatoes, trace their fingers through cornflour, finger paint with natural food dyes like beetroot dipped in water, roll out pizza dough, whisk some eggs for pancakes, or use celery as a tool to practice writing in semolina. There are so many ways you can use your hands to handle food, whether to make something tasty or just awaken their tactile senses and build up those fine motor muscles.
It is also important not to underestimate a child’s kitchen skills as well, as they are capable of grating, using child-friendly knives, and even cracking eggs, all of which develop their cooking abilities as well as their handwriting.
What else?
Before you panic about the mess, it is worth considering the other benefits your child will get from sensory food play.
For a start, it helps them become more creative and imaginative if they’re using desiccated coconut for snow, broken biscuits for soil, and different shaped vegetables as vehicles.
It also helps them develop their problem-solving skills and divergent thinking, as they have to think outside the box, and use different foods as everyday objects instead.
Messy food play also enhances speech and language among toddlers, as it helps children have more conversations. Thanks to all the senses involved, kids will have more opportunity to describe what they see, hear, smell, taste and feel, helping them to expand their use of adjectives and their vocabulary on the whole.
By encouraging them to think about their different senses, they are also going to be better equipped to understand their feelings, helping with their self-regulation and their acceptance of their own needs and wants.
So next time your little one is squishing a ripe mango, asks to make a rice shaker, or wants to add cinnamon to homemade play dough, try not to resist, as time spent playing with food now will reap lots of benefits later on down the line. So much so, that it’s worth the mess.
Our children’s cooking clubs, parties and workshops in the north-west give youngsters the opportunity to enjoy a multi-sensory experience with ingredients, as well as learn how to make delicious, healthy dishes. For more information, get in touch with natasha@kiddycook.co.uk.natasha@kiddycook.co.uk