There’s no way to make this sound cool. It’s a very simple strategy. It’s just a small bowl or plate that sits next to your child’s main plate.
When feeding children, I will sometimes put a small bowl or plate next to their plate. Anything they don’t want to eat can go in this bowl. Like bits of mushroom they are pulling out of a dish. Lettuce. A food with a weird color or texture. Sometimes they just don’t want it on their plate.
I started setting a small bowl nearby as a way to keep babies and toddlers from simply throwing food they don’t want on to the floor. I give them a small bowl and say “Here. Put it in here if you don’t want it.” I mean, they need to learn at some point that food doesn’t belong on the floor, right?
Providing a bowl gives them an easy to recognize place to put unwanted food, but the side benefit is it also still keeps it within reach. One thing I know about children, is something that was a no at the beginning of a meal might suddenly seem appealing halfway through. If we whisk something off their plate, or never even put it on in the first place, they don’t get those exposures that are so important in raising a curious eater. They lose the option to try it later in the meal if they decide they want to.
Putting a bowl to the side reminds a child that they don’t need to eat everything and they don’t even need to keep it on their plate. They can simply handle it on their own and move it to the side. Low pressure. We aren’t required to jump in to fix anything. And they learn that food is safe to be around. They learn more skills to navigate it.
And they can eat from that bowl, too. If they decide to.
Try it and see how it works for your family.