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Mealtimes are great chances for chats with your baby.
You can introduce all sorts of words for tastes and textures as they begin to experience the world of food for the first time.
Gemma:
I'm Gemma, this is my wife Stacey, and this is our daughter, Frankie.
Although we both work full time, we have at least an hour a day where we focus on play time with her.
Anything that's basically simulating for her. Is that good on your teeth?
Big Crunch.
We're trying… Good girl.
This one's kind of hard.
Give it a go. Will Mummy eat a bit of apple, ready? Crunchy?
Really? Absolutely. Wow. Do you want this one or this one?
Okay. What's this? Is this Orange? Yeah? That's Orange. High five! Yeah! Aww.
The benefits of chatting at mealtimes
- Children can learn new words for tastes and textures
- They build connections between foods and the words you use to name them
- They can learn action words like 'cut' and 'chew'
- They can practise making choices between foods
How to make mealtimes fun
Chatting to children about what you are doing while you’re eating together is a great way for them to connect the words you use with the action they’re doing.
Name foods as they eat so they can learn the words. You can also use words for tastes and textures like 'sweet' and 'crunchy'.
Use mealtimes as a chance for you to discover what your little one likes and dislikes. You can give them choices between different snacks to see what they enjoy - even if they don't say the words, they might gesture for what they want to eat.
