Dr Helen Coulthard – sensory food play is a 'vital learning opportunity' for young children

Evidence shows that sensory food play and exploration help children develop positive relationships with healthy food. But a patchwork approach to sensory food play in nurseries and preschools means many early years children miss out on this vital learning opportunity. It’s time for this to change.

For the past two decades, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the relationship between children, food and health.

One of my areas of specialism is neophobia: a fear of tasting new things. Research shows that neophobia is linked to limited fruit and vegetable consumption, and with only 18 per cent of children aged between five and 10 currently eating the recommended five portions of fruit and veg a day, understanding the factors that drive neophobia is a critical part of my work.

In 2015, I led a study exploring neophobia to understand if there was a link between touching food and tasting unfamiliar dishes. My team of researchers asked a group of 70 children between the ages of two and five to play with mushy, slimy food, whilst their parents observed. Our objective was to see if children would be happy to use their hands to search for a toy soldier buried at the bottom of a bowl of mashed potatoes or jelly. Those that were not, were offered a spoon to use instead.

Our research showed that children who declined to use the spoon and were happy to play with their food were less likely to have neophobia – meaning that these children were more likely to try and consume new foods. It also showed that if we can find a way to reduce neophobia amongst early years children, we may be able to increase the likelihood that they’ll try fruit and vegetables. It would be a key first step towards developing a taste for healthier foods that persists into adulthood.

Playing with food, our research indicated, could hold the key to reducing neophobia.

The good news is that an enjoyment of playing with food can be taught. Using food to make pictures or shapes on the plate without any pressure to touch or taste these foods, can create initial excitement and interest around new fruits and vegetables that paves the way for parents and carers to gradually encourage children to make their own art and let them sample the results when they’re ready.The critical thing is to offer as much variety as possible from a young age, helping children experience lots of textures and flavours thereby minimising their fear of unfamiliar foods.

It is important that not all activities are taste-based, so there is no pressure to try. For some children, this is a huge relief, and it means they can reset their relationship with healthy foods. On the other hand, some children will eat the food during the game, and it is worth ensuring the food has been safely prepared in case.

Nurseries can play a critical role by introducing children to sensory food play during sessions that are sensitively led by early years experts, in the company of other children also exploring these foods for the first time.

And many already are – several nurseries up and down the country are already pioneering sensory food play within their curriculums with great success. The foods used do not need to be expensive, nor do we need a large amount of food to do this effectively. Waste can be kept to a minimum – and in the long run a reduction in neophobia also reduces food waste overall.

But not every nursery offers sensory food play – or can afford to – meaning early years children are subject to a postcode lottery when it comes to accessing important learning experiences that can influence health outcomes over the course of their lives.

This is by no means the fault of nurseries. The early years sector has been chronically underfunded in recent years, and further closures and reduced services are inevitable without immediate government support.

For early years children from the most deprived backgrounds, this would be devastating. Evidence shows that children who have had less prior exposure to healthy foods at home – often from less affluent backgrounds – actually stand to gain the most from sensory food play, and are also at highest risk of dietary illness. If we can’t offer sensory food play to each and every child, these children would miss crucial opportunities to develop the healthy relationships with food that will help them to thrive. For early years children from the most deprived backgrounds - many of whose families will be at the brunt of the current cost-of-living crisis -  this would be devastating.

This is why I’m fully in support of activities such as the recent campaign from Ella’s Kitchen, Eat.Play. Love., which calls for the UK government to take urgent action to improve early childhood nutrition through access to sensory food play.

Specifically, the campaign wants to amend the Early Years Foundation Stage to include sensory food play as part of the Managing Self Early Learning Goal; support early years educators by providing comprehensive, government-approved guidance on how to carry out sensory food play in early years settings; and provide ring-fenced funding for sensory food play for less affluent early years settings.

Sensory food play in the early years helps children get used to textures and tastes and ultimately, can help them fall in love with healthy foods. It is a low-cost intervention to set children up with healthy eating habits that are very likely to follow them into adulthood – and every child deserves this opportunity.

To support the campaign, you can write to your MP here.

Dr Helen Coulthard is a developmental psychologist who is primarily interested in the development of eating behaviour and psychopathology. She works as a senior lecturer within De Montford University's School of Applied Social Sciences.