Birds Eye opens the 'First Plates' restaurant for children

Birds Eye opens 'First Plates' in London, a unique and colourful restaurant experience to encourage children to expand their palates by trying a rainbow of vegetable dishes.

The unique pop-up dining experience was created in celebration of Bird’s Eye’s ‘Eat in Full Colour’ campaign, which aims to encourage people to add more colour, and therefore goodness, to their plates. The pop-up restaurant in London saw over 60 children age 4-8 sampling an array of vibrant and tasty vegetable-based meals.

Parents were also offered some tips from Dr Elizabeth Kilbey, Psychologist from Channel 4’s The Secret Life of 4, 5 and 6 year olds on how to encourage more fussy eaters to expand their palates and eat more veg:

1. Variety is key
The texture of vegetables can sometimes be an issue for children. If they do not like the texture of one vegetable then they tend to lump all vegetables into the same category by assuming they won’t like them all. In reality, vegetables are so varied both in texture and taste so ensuring you give them the encouragement to try different options and also remind them that they can’t be sure they don’t like something, until they have actually tried it.

2. Mix up your eating environment
Parents are often very surprised at the things their children will do when they are not with them and that includes the range of food they will eat. Children are very influenced by the environment or context of what goes on around them and will often not want to stand out or be left out. So if their friends at nursery or on a playdate are eating something new, then they may be more likely to try it. Having a chat with the staff at your nursery or with other parents, can be a great way to get your children to try new vegetables that you can later introduce at home.

3. Consider the colour of vegetables
Children are strongly influenced by the look and smell of food and will make a decision on whether they like something just from how it looks, whereas adults want to know how it tastes before we decide if we like it. This means that children may associate certain coloured foods with tastes they don’t like.

Serving your children colours of vegetables that are familiar to them or they associate with foods they like could be easy wins. For example, if children like sweet potato, then offering it with other orange coloured veg like butternut squash is likely to encourage them to try it.

4. Make food fun
“It’s an old adage that children shouldn’t play with their food - but maybe they should. As adults, we love having the opportunity to get creative with our food and that often makes us enjoy our meals even further. By relaxing the rules and allowing your children to be messy at mealtimes, you will find that their food becomes more appealing to them and in turn, they will be more likely to eat it.”

5. Don’t panic
One of the most important tips I can give to parents is not to get stressed or let it impact on your opinion of yourself as a parent. It’s very common for children to not be very keen on vegetables, or to only have a small repertoire of vegetables that they eat but give it some time, creativity and perseverance and most children will broaden their horizons to include a variety of different vegetables.

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