EXACTLY How You Can Transform Your Picky Eater: A 4-Week Plan

I am going to show you exactly how you can help your child discover more foods they like – happily – with a proven, step-by-step process, so you can enjoy more peace of mind at mealtimes.

Before we dive in to the 4 week plan, we first have to get into the right mindset…

The Teaching Mindset

Just as we teach our children about sharing and pottying, handwashing, sign language, and their ABC’s, we can play an active role in helping them understand what foods are, where they come from and why we eat them. 

I believe that by having food as part of our learning, toddlers become more curious and trusting toward foods, and have a better overall understanding, which inevitably makes for better eating habits, and a healthier relationship with food.

With almost a decade experience working with toddlers in a Montessori-inspired daycare and preschool setting, I can see how these methods truly impact their relationship with foods.

For my complete Transforming Picky Eating Starter Guide, go here to download for free!

The Goal & the plan

Our goal is to teach our toddlers about foods, how they grow, what they look like and what they do for our bodies. We want them to learn about a variety of foods so they feel comfortable with a variety of foods. 

Ok, now that we have the right mindset, let’s dive into the 4 week plan you can follow to start transforming your toddler’s picky eating habits…

Week 1: Reading and talking about food

Start with reading and talking! Get some books with pictures of real food for story time. 

Look up pictures of food. Talk all things food, specifically stating facts. 

For example:

• “Oranges are sweet and tart with a thick skin. 

• Plums are dark purple, juicy and smooth on the outside. 

• Kale is dark green, long and chewy.

• Tomatoes are round, red, juicy, sometimes mushy and have seeds. 

• Spinach can be blended in our favorite smoothie and it helps our body fight off sickness like the cold and flu. Wow!”

Words like ‘yummy’ and ‘yucky’ are opinions. Avoid using those words when you serve or describe foods to your toddler. 

Instead, invite them to share their opinions. Let them come to their own conclusion after they taste different foods. 

You can get them thinking about the foods by asking questions like:

• “is this avocado creamy like yogurt?”

• “is this pepper crunchy like a cucumber?”

• “is this sausage juicy or dry?”

Keep it simple and manageable for yourself – a few minutes each day goes a long way. 

Week 2: Food-focused activities

Start incorporating food-focused activities a few times each week. Food exploration as we call it! (ideas for food-focused activities below)

These activities count as food exposure, and research shows that it can take 15-20+ exposures before a toddler feels comfortable trying something new.

Forget mealtime-only exposures, let’s make food exposure less forced and more present in the normal flow of their day. 

Food-focused activities to try 

What make up most of toddlers’ days? Play! Here are some ideas for how you can incorporate food-focused play-like activities into your weekly routine:

• Meal prep together

• Lift your toddler up at the store and let them grab foods 

• Set bags or boxes on the floor and let your child help unload groceries

• Set a bowl of water and a scrub brush or cloth down on their table and let them help scrub fruits and vegetables

• Let them chop veggies and cooked meats with a toddler-safe knife

• Let them press the button on the blender and pour ingredients into it

• Garden together

• Do story time with books that have pictures of real food AND have them hold those foods while reading 

• Have them sort produce by color, size, shape

A LOT of the time, toddlers will get comfortable and curious during these activities and go in for a sniff, lick, bite!

With your food-focused activities, choose to use foods that you have been reading about. 

This way your toddler can tie back to what they have been seeing and reading. And now they are hands-on with the new foods they have been learning about. How cool! 

More often than not, toddlers try to taste foods during these activities. They are happy, having fun, excited, proud, curious. 

There is no need for you to pressure any bites at this time. If they do go in for a taste on their own, simply ask them something like – “what do you think? Is it crunchy? Is it sweet? Is it juicy?” 

If you want to encourage things along, you can taste the foods yourself and say – “wow! This is crunchy! I like it!” or “whoa! that is so juicy! yum!”  

For my complete Transforming Picky Eating Starter Guide, go here to download for free!

Keep the activities light-hearted, short and sweet with the goal of exploring and discovering things about foods rather than just taking bites. 

With time, and low-pressure situations like this, bites will come. 

Food knowledge and trust will continue to be built, they’ll feel like they have more control at mealtimes, and you will see picky eating habits ease up. 

Week 3: Taste test and track it

This week it’s all about starting to serve new foods, regularly so you can ‘taste test’ together. 

To start, choose foods you have been learning about. Continue to let them help you meal prep. Giving them that control is one of the most powerful things you can do for curbing picky eating habits. 

Always serve a food or two that they know and love, with each meal. This will make them feel safe and happy at mealtime. 

Sit with them at mealtime and try what they try. And lastly, give them a heads up a couple days before you start serving new foods. 

You can say something like – “there are so many delicious foods out there you haven’t tried yet. Let’s start discovering new foods together! Some we will love and others we won’t love. That’s ok! Let’s find new foods we like!”

To keep this part of the process fun and low-stress, you can keep a food journal of foods they like and don’t like. 

This could be special notebook just for them or a wall chart, where they place stickers next to foods they try. As their food trust grows and they discover new foods they like, there won’t be a need for tracking their foods anymore. 

For now, this is a hands-on exercise that helps give them control over the foods they’re eating. And it helps us parents plan meals around things they have tried and genuinely don’t like the taste of.

When you serve new foods, you can say something like – “oooo look it’s chicken! Remember we looked up a picture of chickens? Where do they come from? The farm! Good job love. Mmm looks juicy, let’s see if it’s juicy. It is! I like it! What do you think? Let’s write it down and get a sticker!”

Week 4: Bring it all together

Solidify your toddler’s new-found interest in and love for foods. Help keep them exposed to new foods and feeling in control. 

If you can’t tell by now, this really is a way of life at home with our children.

When we allow them access to mealtime prep, teach them facts about foods, and invite them to share their own opinions about foods, we will experience less pickiness and less mealtime stress. Here are some ideas for keeping your toddler on track for less picky eating habits:

• Start a snack drawer where they can grab their own snacks at snack time. (More control and power of choice for them! Often, they are more interested in mealtime when they are more involved inthe process.)

• Have them continue to help prepping meals, shopping and gardening. You can add tasks as their abilities improve. 

• Celebrate all that they’ve tried and all they’ve discovered they love! Food is love!

• Sit down with them and have them help you plan out the menu for the week ahead. Many toddlers I work with, including my twins, enjoy choosing their foods from the instacart app.

Final thoughts 

Remember, the transformation from picky eater to adventurous eater can feel ssssllllow. 

Give it 4 weeks and stay cool about it along the way. Just go through the motions I outlined here, and see what happens. 

If you want this 4-week plan in a free printable format, click here for an instant download. 

You can also check out the FREE Picky Toddler Challenge. It is a comprehensive 4-week guide that I email to you, week-by-week, that includes 2 food activities each week, picky eater facts, mealtime tips to try, affirmations, a mindset mantra to help minimize stress and more!

This can absolutely help you see some change with your toddler’s picky eating.

Otherwise, take a look through the other picky toddler blog posts I have below, for more inspiration: