What Makes Food Fun To Eat

Making Food Fun What makes food fun to eat?

A study in mid 2006 put this question to 3,230 children from 6 to 12 years and mums of 2 to 5 year olds. It found that most children agreed on a few characteristics that make a food fun to eat.

The six “fun” things named are;

Finger foods – kids love eating with their fingers
Dipping and scooping – kids think it is fun to dip or scoop their food into another food.
Add-ins – kids enjoy taking matters into their own hands by adding things to their food such as sauces or toppings.
Fillings and icings – fillings and icings tend to make foods appealing to kids
Silly shapes and cool colours – kids like foods that come in interesting shapes and colours
Portability – kids like to be able to take food products with them

I was interested to know about the company who conducted the research. They are a strategic market research company focusing exclusively on children 2 to 12 years and their parents. Their home page quotes “delivers insightful research, innovative new products, and game-changing strategies that deliver huge, measurable market returns while changing kids’ worlds for the better.”

When I looked at their client list and noted that most of their clients market non-nutritious food, ie McDonalds, Pepsi, Pringles, Hershey’s, Kellogg’s Pop Tarts, Nabisco, Frito Lay’s Cheetos I wanted to asked how these products changed a kids’ world for the better!

Unfortunately these corporations have the funds to conduct this type of research so they can market their junk food as fun to eat.

However all is not lost as there is no reason why mums can’t use the same information to get your kids to eat healthy foods. Interestingly, the MD of the market research company also acknowledges this in the article about the study.

Here are my ideas on using the above characteristics to make food fun for kids. Not all parts of the dinner have to contain the fun elements as long as a part of the meal does.

I have loads of ideas for each category that will give you inspiration for weeks to come. Some of the dinners I have suggested double up on categories so maybe they can be called double fun foods.

Finger Foods

Beef kebabs, chicken skewers or vegetable sticks - Almost all meats, vegetable and fruits can be threaded on a skewer.
Lamb Cutlets
Honey Soy Drumsticks
Mini quiches or frittatas
Spring rolls or rice paper rolls
Sushi
Ribs
Tacos
Nachos
Toasted Sandwiches
Corn on the cob
Raw chopped vegetables
Dolmades
Sausages rolls or pies

Dipping and scooping

Nachos
Tacos
Mezze Plate
San Choy Bau
Serve a dip as most meats can be dipped, ie fish fingers can be dipped into tartare or mayonnaise sauce, chicken nuggets can be dipped in guacamole, beef skewers can be dipped into peanut sauce, lamb cutlets into pesto. The list is endless.
Serve salad and dressing separately and let the salad be dipped into the dressing.
Dunking bread/toast into any soups

Add Ins

Toppings for baked potatoes, ie bacon, cheese, sour cream, tomato, corn niblets, bolognese sauce etc
Toppings to go on pizza
Fill squeeze bottles with anything pourable – salad dressing, tomato, bbq sauce, chilli sauce, mayonnaise and let them squirt

Fillings and icings
I have to pass on the icings, but there are lots of foods that you can add fillings to and roll up and eat or just add filling and eat

Tortillas
Crepes or pancakes
Rice paper rolls
Doner Kebabs
Wraps
Calzones
Hamburgers
Croissants

Silly shapes and cool colours

Bread, toast and sandwiches can be cut into silly shapes or animals using cookie cutters.
Mix different shape pasta together
White foods; potato, cauliflower, yoghurt, pasta, rice can change into cool colours with a flick of food colouring.
Vegetables don’t have to be vegetables - create a visual feast of different colours and different shapes on the plate, ie cubes of potato, zucchini or carrot batons, broccoli flowers, wedges of tomato etc.

Portability
Pack up a cold dinner into containers, noodle boxes and vary where you eat meals. Have a picnic in your backyard, on the lounge room floor or in your child’s playhouse. In summer eat outside where appropriate; the park, beach or an outdoor concert.

The following makes great portable food;