Stress-Free Mealtime Tips: Fun and Easy Ways to Encourage Positive Experiences With Food

By Marina Rahamim, 10 March 2025

Many of us face the same struggles—expensive food going to waste, the endless clean-up, and the battle to get kids to eat anything at all. Add the pressure of ensuring they’ve eaten enough before bedtime, and it’s no wonder parents feel frustrated and defeated. And let’s be honest—our own relationships with food and parenting pressures often come into play, adding to the emotional load.

But what if we could reframe mealtimes as opportunities for fun, connection, and positive experiences whatever the age of your children? With plenty of meals ahead, why not explore some new ways to make food a more enjoyable family affair? This month’s blog dives into simple, practical ideas that can help, not add to your workload or guilt. No Pinterest-worthy creations here (trust me, most of my meals look like slop!) Instead, you’ll find fun, stress-free ideas, I hope, to create a positive atmosphere that even the pickiest eaters can enjoy.

IDEAS TO GET THEM EXCITED FOR MEALTIME

Interactive Meal Planning – Kids choose. One of the best ways to get kids to eat, is to get them involved in meal planning. This works for children of all ages - young children might love sticking food pictures on a weekly planner, while older kids can help write it out.  When they have a say, they’re more excited about what’s on their plate (I know I am the same!) Even babies can be given simple choices—pointing between various foods allows them to feel included and decide whether they want, say, chicken or salmon, giving them ownership and, hopefully, less fuss. If older children turn their nose up at your options, take them to the supermarket and see if it offers inspiration. If they are old enough, you can even give them a budget, which also helps with their understanding of numbers. 

Recipe Books at Bedtime. For more ideas without leaving your home, try flicking through recipe books together or leave them to independently decide (make sure you show them easy recipe books though, ones that require less time or one pot recipes so that you’ve not given yourself a new stressful task!) and give them a few post-it notes to highlight their favourite. This will afford them some independent quiet time followed by a chance to explain their choices, which is a great way to spark discussion and enthusiasm for food.

Tasks for Children. With children who can follow simple instruction, let them lay the table. Giving children this autonomy, along with the ability to decide where to sit (if you’re in a big family), is such a lovely way to drum up excitement for the meal itself. We forget that children don’t have much control in life and giving them small responsibilities at home makes them feel confident and capable. Let them choose their cups and plates, pour their own water and serve their own food at the table. The same for bringing their empty plate to wash up – many will be used to doing this at nursery already and will relish the responsibility at home. For weekends or school holidays you could take this one step further by letting them design their own plate sets or paint a cheap white cloth to use as a tablecloth. Or plant seeds in a pot as an activity and leave it on the dining table, watching it grow from week to week. This could make mealtimes feel extra special.

TOP TIPS AT THE TABLE 

Set the Ground Rules

Every family has its own mealtime rules, and it’s important to find what works for you. I’m a big fan of the “one-try policy,” where everyone takes at least one bite of each food on their plate, but there's no pressure to finish if they truly don’t like it. Having a few light-hearted go-to phrases like “bums on seats” or"you get what you get and you don’t get upset” can help set expectations in a fun way and keep mealtimes running smoothly. Turning these into playful jingles or chants makes them easier to remember.

Siblings can be great motivators or unpredictable challengers, but when they’re on the same team, trying new foods feels easier. Also when your kids see you eating the same meal—taking a bite of everything, (carbs, protein, and veggies included) —they're more likely to follow your lead. This normalises their eating experience and takes the pressure off, so they don't feel like they're being watched.

Keeping the Atmosphere Positive

If mealtime turns silly or a child refuses to eat, staying calm is key (even when it feels impossible!). Instead of reacting immediately, try these simple resets: Sometimes, acknowledging they don't feel hungry right now and simply removing the plate for a moment or offering one bite-sized piece at a time can relieve pressure. Other times, a short break away from the table (using a timer) helps reset the mood. When they return, take a deep breath (try and shake off your own anxiety and frustration however difficult) and start fresh. We often pretend we have a remote control and we 'rewind' behaviour, which gets some laughs and refocusses all of us (myself included!). To avoid “tears at the table,” - if a child becomes upset, take them out of the chair, offer a cuddle, and try again once they’re calm. This helps prevent negative associations with mealtimes. One of the simplest yet most effective tools? Music. Nursery rhymes, singing, or playing their favorite songs can help create a calming atmosphere. Another powerful strategy is allowing children to feed themselves from an early age. Preloading spoons, helping them guide food to their mouth, or providing easy finger foods encourages independence and excitement around eating. Lots of cheering and clapping to celebrate even the tiniest moments of effort can go a long way. If you need more tailored advice, check in with your nursery. Finally, be kind to yourself. Some days, everyone is too tired to try something new. If your lovingly prepared meal gets rejected, don’t take it personally. It’s tough when no one touches the chicken pie you worked so hard on, but compassion (for yourself and your child) goes a long way.

Building Connection at the Table

Kids love imaginative play, especially when it involves role reversals. If they’re in the mood, try getting into characters or animals—feeding them playful bites, making silly sounds, and letting them feed you in return. This can turn mealtime from a struggle into a fun, nurturing experience. I often have to remind myself that after a long day apart, our children often just need a little one-on-one connection—not someone forcing spoonfuls of veggies into their mouths (because really, would you like that? lol!). If they’ve given dinner a good try but still don’t want it, I offer no-fuss alternatives like toast, avocado, banana, or warmed-up leftovers—keeping boundaries in place while ensuring they don’t go to bed hungry.

Once mealtimes feel a little less stressful, why not introduce some fun? Here are 6 playful ways to make food more exciting for children of all ages:

DIY Plates: Letting children assemble their own meals (think ‘Taco Tuesday’, ‘Sushi Sunday’ or ‘Pizza Making Monday’), creates excitement and helps them feel in control of their food choices. It may seem like extra work at first, but there are plenty of timesaving hacks out there (like ready-made bases and tomato sauce for pizza making). Naming themed meal days adds routine and anticipation, making it more likely they will be open to trying something more adventurous.

Sensory Games: Turn mealtime into an adventure with 'taste tests' or ‘guess the ingredient’ challenges. When my son got tired of his usual cheese sandwich for packed lunch, I turned it into a game. One weekend when we had more time, I made bite-sized sandwiches with different fillings for the whole family—tuna mayo, egg and spinach, chicken and kale, even butter and marmite. They scored each one out of 10, and guessed the flavours as they went along. No pressure, just fun. The result? They discovered they actually liked tuna - something they had refused before! Games like this can make new foods feel exciting instead of overwhelming -freeing them up to explore new tastes without judgement.

Fun, Colourful Food: Brighten up food with colour themes - think rainbow-coloured veggie plates or a 'green for St. Patrick’s Day' meal. Or let children mix their own dips - squishing tomatoes for ketchup, mashing peas for a mushy pea dip or mixing ketchup and mayonnaise together, you’d be surprised how a simple activity can spark some fun! Simple finger foods like dippy eggs and toast fingers, colourful rice paper wraps or food face plates that they create and eat with their hands - can make even the simplest meals feel special.

Food Art: If your children are no longer impressed by your funny face plates, try turning food into art and create a “food anatomy” plate before eating it. Around a large piece of paper, draw an outline of a body (or print one off the computer) and use the various food items as the anatomy e.g. green beans for the oesophagus, jacket potato cut in two as the lungs or baked beans for the brain. Getting them to eat AND learn at the same time…what’s not to like? This could work for any theme they are into.

Learning Through Food. To stimulate the mind and taste-buds, try exploring new foods from different aisles of the supermarket – whether noodles, bao buns, or samosas. For more stress-free mealtime tips - Get out a world map of foods (this does require possibly a bit more time and effort but if you have time can be a great way to get the whole family involved and excited about food – even if it’s one new dish every few months).

Playful Food. Whether it’s a teddy-bear picnic on the kitchen floor or sharing a green bean ‘lady and the tramp’ style, playing (your child’s preferred medium) can help bring joy back to the table. You could even create a target practice game for older children – make a circle on a plate with a noodle and they have to use plastic tweezers (or chopsticks) to pick up a pea, pop it in the circle then eat it. Another idea is to create a game by writing 6 funny instructions on a piece of paper and use a dice to determine which instruction they have to follow, ‘eat a bite of something green that looks like a tree’, for example. It’s just about getting onto their level and recognising that while mealtimes are serious business, it’s a shame to miss out on the great fun that can be had whilst eating.

Mealtimes don’t have to be a battle—in fact, small shifts in approach can make a world of difference. Whether it’s offering simple choices, involving children in meal prep, or creating a playful, pressure-free atmosphere, these little changes help shape a more positive experience with food. When a child resists eating, shifting the energy is often more effective than forcing the issue.

Research shows that negative reinforcement can create a feedback loop, making parent-child interactions around food even more challenging (Patterson, 2002).

Instead, bringing lightness and creativity to the table can help ease the tension. By dinnertime, most of us are already running on empty, and the last thing we need is another standoff over food. But when mealtimes feel fun and relaxed, they become moments of connection rather than conflict. Over time, even the most hesitant eaters may start to feel more comfortable exploring new foods—at their own pace, in their own way.

Do you have any fun mealtime traditions or tricks that work in your family? Please share your ideas in the comments section below, I'd love to hear them!.

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Reference:

Patterson, G. R. (2002). The Early Development of Coercive Family Process. In J. B. Reid, G. R. Patterson, & J. Snyder (Eds.), Antisocial behavior in Children and adolescents: A Developmental Analysis and Model for Intervention (pp. 25-44). Washington, DC: APA.

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Marina Rahamim is a qualified child therapist. Over her career, she has worked with children who have experienced different challenges from bullying and low self-esteem to divorce and domestic violence and abuse. Furthermore, she has supported a Local Authority Children’s Centre, leveraging her understanding of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) developed through her NCFE Cache Level 3 Diploma for the Early Years Workforce (Early Years Educator). However it was Marina’s work at a leading charity, Norwood, that sparked her true passion for working with children and learning about child development, where she organised and ran activities for young people aged between 5 and 25 years old who had special educational needs over a 5 year period. Now a mother to 3 young children and a fellow parent at La Petite Nursery, Marina has used her extensive training and work in the field of childcare and psychology to follow her own passions and hobbies, including coming up with enjoyable strategies to help manage behaviour and being an enthusiastic baby signer. Marina graduated with a Master’s in Play Therapy from the University of Roehampton in 2017 (accredited under BAPT).

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Got a picky eater at home? Don’t worry—we’ve got expert tips to help!

Our in-house nutritionist, Naomi Szakacs, has put together a helpful guide on Tips for Introducing New Foods to Picky Eaters. With simple, practical advice and fun home worksheets, you can make mealtimes smoother and more enjoyable for the whole family.

Download here:

Tips for introducing new foods to picky eaters.pdf

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