It can be difficult to get kids to try new foods. As a child, my play food options were pretty much limited to a floppy rubber fried egg and a hollow plastic banana. Toddlers and young children really benefit from dramatic pretend play, such as playing kitchen or grocery store. Here are a few interesting (and rather exotic) food play sets designed to encourage healthy pretend play and food familiarization.
The Pretend and Play Multi-Cultural Food Set ($21.72 at Arsa Toys) is a great way to introduce children to a variety of foods. The 11-piece set includes familiar items like a hot dog and slice of pizza while introducing more exotic foods, like a croissant, flan, Spanish rice, egg roll, and salmon sushi.
Children can also learn how to “cut” food with the wood Cutting Food Box by Melissa & Doug ($14.49 at Arsa Toys). The kit contains a variety of meat, fruits, vegetables and bread that can be cut with the kid-safe plastic cleaver. The segments are held together with Velcro, which adds a fun crunching sound.
For children with more adventurous appetites, there’s the Sushi Slicing Box ($14.49 at Arsa Toys). The set includes shrimp, tuna and salmon roe, egg pieces, sushi rolls, condiments and chopsticks. Children can pretend to make their own sushi and chop it up with the included “cleaver”.
There’s even the Chinese-cuisine themed Good Fortune Food Playset ($8.70 at Arsa Toys) that comes complete with dim sum steamers, dim sum, chopsticks, lettuce leaves, a take-out box, tea and of course, a fortune cookie.
Children may not alwas want to taste these foods, but at least they can learn about other cultures and have a good time while doing so. Of course, there are many more food playsets out there so you can find the one that is most appropriate for the age and tastes of the child in your life.
