Is your child a fussy eater? Are mealtimes becoming stressful, repetitive or a constant negotiation?
Fussy eating in children is incredibly common, but knowing how to encourage children to try new foods — without turning every meal into a battle — can feel much harder.
In this episode of The Muddy Puddle Teacher Podcast, Sarah chats with Viktoria “Viki” from Twiddle Food, a qualified Nutrition Coach specialising in Culinary Medicine, mum of two and self-taught chef. Viki created Twiddle after experiencing fussy eating with her own daughter and wanting to find a more positive way to help her family enjoy food.
For more ideas and tips, discover: PSED Outdoor Hub.
🎧 Listen to the episode: Let’s Talk Twiddle Food with Viktoria
Listen to the full Muddy Puddle Teacher Podcast episode here
Sign up for a free Outdoor Learning Magazine.
How Can I Help My Child With Fussy Eating?
If you are searching for how to help a fussy eater, one of the most important starting points is to look beyond simply asking:
“How do I make my child eat this?”
Instead, think about how children develop their relationship with food.
For young children in particular, eating can be hugely sensory. Food has:
- different smells
- colours
- textures
- temperatures
- tastes
- sounds
- and even different feelings when we touch it.
That means becoming comfortable around food can be a gradual process.
Cooking, exploring ingredients and being involved in preparing meals can give children opportunities to experience food without all of the pressure being on eating it.
And, naturally, that is something we love at The Muddy Puddle Teacher.
Food can become part of play, exploration, conversation and real-life learning.
Why Do Children Become Fussy Eaters?
There isn’t one single reason why a child might be reluctant to try new foods.
Some children naturally prefer familiar foods. Others may be more sensitive to particular tastes, smells or textures. Children can also go through periods when their food preferences become much narrower.
For parents and practitioners, the important thing is not to assume that a child is simply being difficult.
Instead we can become curious.
What is it about this food they dislike?
Is it the texture?
The smell?
Is it unfamiliar?
Would they feel more comfortable touching it or helping prepare it before being expected to taste it?
This can be particularly important when supporting children with SEND or sensory differences, where the experience of eating certain foods may feel very different from how an adult experiences them.
About Our Guest: Viktoria from Twiddle Food
Viktoria — known as Viki — is a qualified Nutrition Coach specialising in Culinary Medicine, a mum of two young girls and a self-taught chef.
Her business, Twiddle Food, began after she experienced fussy eating with her own daughter.
Before moving into food and nutrition full-time, Viki spent around 15 years working in anti-money laundering compliance for DLA Piper, including managing a large international team. Twiddle initially developed alongside her corporate career before she decided to focus on the business full-time in 2023.
Her own experience with IBS also led her to explore the relationship between food, health and wellbeing and retrain in Culinary Medicine. Today, her work includes helping people develop their confidence around food and cooking, alongside hands-on and online cookery experiences.
Viki also draws inspiration from different cuisines and her Hungarian heritage, incorporating herbs, spices and flavours she has discovered through travelling and cooking.
Find Twiddle Food
🌱 Website: Twiddle Food
🎧 Podcast episode: Let’s Talk Twiddle Food with Viktoria
Cooking With Children Can Be Learning Too
At The Muddy Puddle Teacher, we believe some of children’s richest learning happens when they are actively doing something.
Cooking is a wonderful example.
A simple cooking activity can incorporate:
Maths
Counting, measuring, weighing, comparing quantities, fractions and time.
English
Reading recipes, following instructions, sequencing events and learning new vocabulary.
Science
Observing ingredients change when mixed, heated, cooled, frozen or baked.
Understanding the World
Exploring where foods come from, farming, seasons, cultures and different cuisines.
Physical Development
Pouring, stirring, kneading, rolling, spreading and chopping with appropriate equipment.
Personal, Social and Emotional Development
Taking turns, developing independence, trying something unfamiliar and sharing food with others.
Learning doesn’t always need to begin with a worksheet.
Sometimes it begins with a mixing bowl. Find some outdoor cooking ideas with this Stone Age Campfire Cooking Ideas for Forest School.
Try Food Exploration Outdoors
Food activities don’t have to stay in the kitchen either.
Take some of the learning outside.
Children could:
- grow herbs in pots
- smell and compare different herbs
- plant strawberries or tomatoes
- collect apples
- make outdoor fruit kebabs
- create a pretend café or restaurant
- use herbs in a mud kitchen
- make nature-inspired menus
- investigate where different foods originate
- grow ingredients before cooking with them
- create a picnic together
- explore seasonal fruit and vegetables.
This gives children a wider relationship with food than simply seeing it arrive on their plate.
A tomato becomes something they have planted, watered, watched, picked, chopped and eventually tasted.
That whole journey matters.
New to Outdoor Learning? Try reading our Beginners Guide to Outdoor Learning.
Fussy Eating and SEND
For some children with additional needs, food can be particularly complicated.
Texture, smell, colour, temperature and presentation may all influence whether a food feels manageable.
This is why a gradual, playful and pressure-free approach to food exploration can be so valuable.
A child doesn’t necessarily need to go straight from refusing a food to eating an entire portion.
There may be many steps in between:
seeing it → being near it → touching it → smelling it → preparing it → licking or tasting it → eventually eating it.
Every child is different.
When children’s responses appear linked to significant sensory difficulties, restricted eating, nutrition, growth or health concerns, families should seek individual advice from an appropriately qualified health professional.
For more ideas heasd to our Outdoor Learning SEND Hub.
Five Simple Ways to Make Food Exploration More Playful
1. Grow Something
It doesn’t have to be complicated.
Try cress, herbs, strawberries or tomatoes.
Allow children to take responsibility for watering and checking their plants.
2. Let Children Prepare Food
Pouring, stirring, cutting soft foods with child-safe equipment and arranging ingredients can all increase familiarity.
3. Explore Food Without Requiring Children to Eat It
Talk about:
“What does it smell like?”
“Is it smooth or bumpy?”
“What colour is it?”
“What happens when we cut it open?”
4. Connect Food With Different Cultures
Choose a country and explore its foods, music, geography and traditions together.
5. Take It Outdoors
Picnics, growing vegetables, outdoor cooking and sensory food exploration can make the experience feel completely different from sitting around the dinner table.
Listen to The Muddy Puddle Teacher Podcast
The Muddy Puddle Teacher Podcast brings together teachers, authors, educational experts, practitioners, businesses and inspiring people who are helping us think differently about childhood and education.
We explore topics including:
Outdoor Learning | Play | SEND | Early Years | Wellbeing | Sustainability | Curriculum | Children’s Books | Parenting | Teacher Ideas
And it is completely free to listen to.
🎧 Listen to this episode with Viki from Twiddle Food:
Let’s Talk Twiddle Food with Viktoria
Want More Outdoor Learning Ideas?
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Explore our:
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