Getting children involved with various aspects of meal preparation is a really useful way to increase their familiarity and exposure to foods. This leads to them being comfortable around new or currently disliked foods which will eventually mean they’re happy to try them.

You might go shopping together as an activity to talk about different foods then perhaps buy something to explore together at home.

You might try to grow herbs, vegetables or fruits at home, on a windowsill, in a pot or in a veg patch.

You could ask them to suggest a meal for your plan next week.

And, you can cook together; try, when they’re willing, to get them involved in making and/or serving dinner, especially if it is a meal they’ve chosen for the family.

Talk about the ingredients; what they are, how they feel and how they smell, predict how they might taste and then see if you’re right, notice how ingredients change as you cook them and get them involved as much as possible in the preparation (stirring, snipping with scissors, ripping apart peppers and salad leaves, crushing garlic with the back of a fork, weighing, even simply gathering ingredients from the cupboard, fridge or freezer).

With the pressure off, they may decide to try foods as you work – it’s so much more fun to take something off the chopping board when your back is turned than it is to eat it when it’s plated up at the table!

They can also be more involved at the table. They might not be ready to have a food on their plate but they might enjoy serving you and telling the rest of the family what’s in the meal and how they prepared it.