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How to Help Your Child Learn to Eat Cranberries
February 2022
Last reviewed: February 2022
Author:
Shemar Hawkins
Coauthors:
Johane Filemon, MS, RDN, CLT
Alexandria Delozier, PHD
Laura Petix, M.S. OTR/L
Erinn Jacobi, M.S. OTR/L
Stefanie Kain, B.S. M.Ed
About Kids Eat in Color
Created by experts, Kids Eat in Color is the leading resource for families seeking evidence-based information and strategies on child nutrition and feeding.
Author:
Shemar Hawkins
Coauthors:
Johane Filemon, MS, RDN, CLT
Alexandria Delozier, PHD
Laura Petix, M.S. OTR/L
Erinn Jacobi, M.S. OTR/L
Stefanie Kain, B.S. M.Ed
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Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and 5-year-old Malik enjoys eating all the goodness of the season, except the cranberry sauce. Every year, his grandmother made her beloved recipe–a classic–and every year Malik refused.
“This year things will be different,” his mom told his dad before the big dinner. “We are his parents, and he has to eat what we give him. Plus, he’s never tried it. He doesn’t know what he is missing.”
When the meal began, Malik was served a plate of all the helpings, including Grandma’s cranberry sauce.
Malik immediately got tense.
“Just try it,” his mom tried to reason with him. “How do you know you don’t like it if you’ve never tried it? You need to try everything on your plate.”
“It looks gooey, Mom,” Mailk started.
“I need three bites,” replied his mom.
Everyone at the table has now turned to see what was happening. The family started to offer advice.
“Eat it like this,” his grandma suggested.
“Try it with the turkey,” his dad chimed in.
“It’s so good!” his uncle said.
In tears, Malik took a bite. “Yuck! It doesn’t taste good!” As the tartness of the cranberry met his taste buds, he began to cry.
Many of us have been there. We want so badly to have our little ones enjoy the things we loved as children. We know if our kids just gave it a chance, they would like it…. Right? Nope. Not always. (Not most times!) In this article, we’ll help guide you on how to teach your child like cranberries and beyond!
There are a lot of benefits packed into these tiny berries. For starters, cranberries host a good amount of fiber. Fiber is important to help regulate digestion of food and help make potty time easier.
Cranberries also contain manganese. Manganese is helpful for glucose (sugars) to be broken down and assist in digesting carbohydrates. This is important because carbohydrates are a large source of energy for a child.
Cranberries are oftentimes dried and served as a snack with trail mix, as a side or even in salads. They are made into jams, juices and much, much more. Serving cranberries in different ways and letting your child experience the different textures can help your child try cranberries.
When introducing a new food consider serving a micro portion. A micro portion is a tiny portion of food–think the size of a pinkie nail. What’s great about micro portions is that they are less intimidating for the child and they also cut down on food waste. It is a win-win.
Please note: Cranberries can be a potential choking hazard for small children. Cut cranberries into halves of fourths before serving.
In all manners, we always recommend a no-pressure approach. Using pressure can often make the situation worse. Here are a few of examples of what pressure can be sound like:
“I wish you would just eat it, for me.”
“Come on, it’s not scary at all, just a tiny bite is all I’m asking for.”
“Now let’s make a happy plate. A happy plate is a clean plate.”
“You need to try everything on your plate.”
From the portion size to the approach, Malik was experiencing pressure in many forms.
How to Talk About Cranberries to Help Your Child Try Them
The way we talk about food, especially to a picky eater, is important. Picky eaters tend to use negative words to describe foods they are not familiar with. “That looks gooey,” for example. Our approach to handle this situation is to help them replace negative words with neutral words.
The reason being is that negative words can reinforce picky eating behaviors. Neutral words are helpful because they seek to describe the qualities of a food and not how a food makes someone feel about it. We want to encourage talking objectively.
Here are some examples of how to do this with cranberries:
Red
Tart/sour
Round
Hard
Small
Soft (when cooked)
Note how Malik was not provided with neutral words to describe the cranberries that were being presented to him. Instead, his mother could have described cranberries to him by saying they were red, round and small.
How to Help Your Child Understand What Cranberries Do in Their Body
It’s important that picky eaters understand what food does in their body. We want to allow the child to make connections and understand the functionality of the foods we eat. A powerful effect can occur when a child becomes interested in learning about the nutrition of the food they are being served. We want to encourage this growth and expand upon it as much as we can.
Keep in mind, this is a long-term process. It will take patience, repetition and consistency to really see long lasting change.
Here are some examples of how to talk about what cranberries do in your child’s body:
Age 0-3: Cranberries help us poop.
Age 3-5: Cranberries have fiber, and fiber helps us poop.
Age 6-11: Cranberries are a small and round fruit that has fiber. Fiber helps make pooping easier.
Age 12-18: Cranberries contain fiber. Fiber helps control pooping and it also makes pooping easier.
Malik may have shown more interest if he was told what cranberries do in his body. His mother could have explained, “Cranberries are small, red fruits and they have fiber. Fiber helps us poop.”
Food play activities help kids learn to try new foods. A child may have to go back and forth between wanting to touch, see, or smell before trying a new food.
Allowing for a no-pressure approach such as food play can help a child to become less fearful of the new food and potentially open up to the idea of tasting somewhere down the line.
Food play can be a powerful tool to encourage engagement with foods that are new to a child.
The main objective of a food activity is to desensitize the new food. Desensitizing is the process of allowing a child’s brain and body to familiarize itself to the new food. When the food is familiar, the food is less smelly, less sticky, less acidic, or in the case of cranberries, less tart.
Mix the different types of cranberries on a large tray/platter.
Invite your child to explore the tray/platter of cranberries. Offer a magnifying glass and tell your child to pretend they are a scientist/detective discovering cranberries for the first time.
Ask your child what they notice. What do they see? How do the cranberries feel? Do they make any sounds? What do they smell like?
Encourage your child to sort the cranberries into different groups on the tray based on whether they feel “squishy” or “not squishy.”
Count how many cranberries are in each group and talk about which has more/less/the same.
Invite your child to squish and mash all the cranberries in the “squishy” group.
Thanks for being part of our community that’s teaching kids to eat more foods!
References
Anderson, James W, Pat Baird, Richard H Davis Jr, Stefanie Ferreri, Mary Knudtson, Ashraf Koraym, Valerie Waters, and Christine L Williams. “Health Benefits of Dietary Fiber.” Nutrition Reviews 67, no. 4 (April 1, 2009): 188–205. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1753-4887.2009.00189.x.
Baylin, Jonathan. “Behavioral Epigenetics and Attachment: The New Science of Trust and Mistrust.” The Neuropsychotherapist 1, no. 3 (2013): 68–79. https://doi.org/10.12744/tnpt(3)068-079.
Benson, Jeryl D., Carol S. Parke, Casey Gannon, and Diane Muñoz. “A Retrospective Analysis of the Sequential Oral Sensory Feeding Approach in Children with Feeding Difficulties.” Journal of Occupational Therapy, Schools, & Early Intervention 6, no. 4 (2013): 289–300. https://doi.org/10.1080/19411243.2013.860758.
Berk, Laura E. Development Through the Lifespan. 7th ed. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc., 2018.
Bodison, Stefanie C., and L. Diane Parham. “Specific Sensory Techniques and Sensory Environmental Modifications for Children and Youth with Sensory Integration Difficulties: A Systematic Review.” American Journal of Occupational Therapy 72, no. 1 (December 2017). https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2018.029413.
Case-Smith, Jane, and Jane Clifford O’Brien. Occupational Therapy for Children. Maryland Heights, MO: Mosby/Elsevier, 2010.
Cooke, L. “The Importance of Exposure for Healthy Eating in Childhood: A Review.” Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics 20, no. 4 (2007): 294–301. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-277x.2007.00804.x.
Copple, Carol, and Sue Bredekamp. Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs: Serving Children from Birth Through Age 8. 3rd ed. Washington, D.C.: National Association for the Education of Young Children, 2008.
Hagan, Joseph F., Judith S. Shaw, and Paula M. Duncan, eds. Bright Futures: Guidelines for Health Supervision of Infants, Children, and Adolescents (Pocket Guide). 4th ed. Elk Grove Village, IL: American Academy of Pediatrics, 2017. https://brightfutures.aap.org/Bright%20Futures%20Documents/BF4_POCKETGUIDE.pdf.
Kramer, Paula, Jim Hinojosa, and Tsu-Hsin Howe. Frames of Reference for Pediatric Occupational Therapy. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer, 2020.
Min, Kyoung-Chul, and Yoo-Im Choi. “Review of Effectiveness Sensory Integration Therapy on Feeding and Oral Function of Children Focus on Single-Subject Research Design.” Journal of Korean Society of Occupational Therapy 29, no. 1 (2021): 101–13. https://doi.org/10.14519/kjot.2021.29.1.08.
Papalia, Diane E., Ruth Duskin Feldman, and Sally Wendkos Olds. Human Development. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2009.
Parham, L. Diane, Gloria Frolek Clark, Renee Watling, and Roseann Schaaf. “Occupational Therapy Interventions for Children and Youth with Challenges in Sensory Integration and Sensory Processing: A Clinic-Based Practice Case Example.” American Journal of Occupational Therapy 73, no. 1 (January 2019). https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2019.731002.
Roley, Smith Susanne, Erna I. Blanche, and Roseann C. Schaaf. Understanding the Nature of Sensory Integration with Diverse Populations. Austin, TX: Pro-Ed, 2007.
About Kids Eat in Color
Created by experts, Kids Eat in Color is the leading resource for families seeking evidence-based information and strategies on child nutrition and feeding.
Shemar O. Hawkins is the Child Nutrition Fellow at Kids Eat in Color. He reads and synthesizes scientific literature and creates research briefs on child nutrition and guides to help parents and caregivers feed their picky eaters. He is currently working on becoming a Registered Dietitian- Nutrition at Texas State University.
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Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and 5-year-old Malik enjoys eating all the goodness of the season, except the cranberry sauce. Every year, his grandmother made her beloved recipe–a classic–and every year Malik refused.
“This year things will be different,” his mom told his dad before the big dinner. “We are his parents, and he has to eat what we give him. Plus, he’s never tried it. He doesn’t know what he is missing.”
When the meal began, Malik was served a plate of all the helpings, including Grandma’s cranberry sauce.
Malik immediately got tense.
“Just try it,” his mom tried to reason with him. “How do you know you don’t like it if you’ve never tried it? You need to try everything on your plate.”
“It looks gooey, Mom,” Mailk started.
“I need three bites,” replied his mom.
Everyone at the table has now turned to see what was happening. The family started to offer advice.
“Eat it like this,” his grandma suggested.
“Try it with the turkey,” his dad chimed in.
“It’s so good!” his uncle said.
In tears, Malik took a bite. “Yuck! It doesn’t taste good!” As the tartness of the cranberry met his taste buds, he began to cry.
Many of us have been there. We want so badly to have our little ones enjoy the things we loved as children. We know if our kids just gave it a chance, they would like it…. Right? Nope. Not always. (Not most times!) In this article, we’ll help guide you on how to teach your child like cranberries and beyond!
In this article we will discuss:
The Benefits of Cranberries for Kids
There are a lot of benefits packed into these tiny berries. For starters, cranberries host a good amount of fiber. Fiber is important to help regulate digestion of food and help make potty time easier.
Cranberries also contain manganese. Manganese is helpful for glucose (sugars) to be broken down and assist in digesting carbohydrates. This is important because carbohydrates are a large source of energy for a child.
Related: Learn more expert tips for reversing picky eating.
How to Serve Cranberries to Picky Eaters
Cranberries are oftentimes dried and served as a snack with trail mix, as a side or even in salads. They are made into jams, juices and much, much more. Serving cranberries in different ways and letting your child experience the different textures can help your child try cranberries.
When introducing a new food consider serving a micro portion. A micro portion is a tiny portion of food–think the size of a pinkie nail. What’s great about micro portions is that they are less intimidating for the child and they also cut down on food waste. It is a win-win.
Please note: Cranberries can be a potential choking hazard for small children. Cut cranberries into halves of fourths before serving.
In all manners, we always recommend a no-pressure approach. Using pressure can often make the situation worse. Here are a few of examples of what pressure can be sound like:
From the portion size to the approach, Malik was experiencing pressure in many forms.
Related: Need more picky eating help? Try BetterBites – the best-selling picky eating course for families.
How to Talk About Cranberries to Help Your Child Try Them
The way we talk about food, especially to a picky eater, is important. Picky eaters tend to use negative words to describe foods they are not familiar with. “That looks gooey,” for example. Our approach to handle this situation is to help them replace negative words with neutral words.
The reason being is that negative words can reinforce picky eating behaviors. Neutral words are helpful because they seek to describe the qualities of a food and not how a food makes someone feel about it. We want to encourage talking objectively.
Here are some examples of how to do this with cranberries:
Note how Malik was not provided with neutral words to describe the cranberries that were being presented to him. Instead, his mother could have described cranberries to him by saying they were red, round and small.
Related: Take the guesswork out of meal planning with Real Easy Weekdays: The Meal Plan for Busy Families.
How to Help Your Child Understand What Cranberries Do in Their Body
It’s important that picky eaters understand what food does in their body. We want to allow the child to make connections and understand the functionality of the foods we eat. A powerful effect can occur when a child becomes interested in learning about the nutrition of the food they are being served. We want to encourage this growth and expand upon it as much as we can.
Keep in mind, this is a long-term process. It will take patience, repetition and consistency to really see long lasting change.
Here are some examples of how to talk about what cranberries do in your child’s body:
Age 0-3: Cranberries help us poop.
Age 3-5: Cranberries have fiber, and fiber helps us poop.
Age 6-11: Cranberries are a small and round fruit that has fiber. Fiber helps make pooping easier.
Age 12-18: Cranberries contain fiber. Fiber helps control pooping and it also makes pooping easier.
Malik may have shown more interest if he was told what cranberries do in his body. His mother could have explained, “Cranberries are small, red fruits and they have fiber. Fiber helps us poop.”
Related: Download our free guide, From Stress to Success: 4 Ways to Help Your Child Eat Better Without Losing Your Mind.
Cranberry Food Activity
Food play activities help kids learn to try new foods. A child may have to go back and forth between wanting to touch, see, or smell before trying a new food.
Allowing for a no-pressure approach such as food play can help a child to become less fearful of the new food and potentially open up to the idea of tasting somewhere down the line.
Food play can be a powerful tool to encourage engagement with foods that are new to a child.
The main objective of a food activity is to desensitize the new food. Desensitizing is the process of allowing a child’s brain and body to familiarize itself to the new food. When the food is familiar, the food is less smelly, less sticky, less acidic, or in the case of cranberries, less tart.
If you need more food activity ideas broken down by age of child (0 to 10-years-old) and stage of learning to like new foods, you may enjoy our food activities guide: Food Play Every Day: 102+ Food Play Activities for Kids.
Activity name: Count and Squish the Cranberries
Age group: 4 yrs +
Materials
Directions
Thanks for being part of our community that’s teaching kids to eat more foods!
References
Anderson, James W, Pat Baird, Richard H Davis Jr, Stefanie Ferreri, Mary Knudtson, Ashraf Koraym, Valerie Waters, and Christine L Williams. “Health Benefits of Dietary Fiber.” Nutrition Reviews 67, no. 4 (April 1, 2009): 188–205. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1753-4887.2009.00189.x.
Baylin, Jonathan. “Behavioral Epigenetics and Attachment: The New Science of Trust and Mistrust.” The Neuropsychotherapist 1, no. 3 (2013): 68–79. https://doi.org/10.12744/tnpt(3)068-079.
Benson, Jeryl D., Carol S. Parke, Casey Gannon, and Diane Muñoz. “A Retrospective Analysis of the Sequential Oral Sensory Feeding Approach in Children with Feeding Difficulties.” Journal of Occupational Therapy, Schools, & Early Intervention 6, no. 4 (2013): 289–300. https://doi.org/10.1080/19411243.2013.860758.
Berk, Laura E. Development Through the Lifespan. 7th ed. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc., 2018.
Bodison, Stefanie C., and L. Diane Parham. “Specific Sensory Techniques and Sensory Environmental Modifications for Children and Youth with Sensory Integration Difficulties: A Systematic Review.” American Journal of Occupational Therapy 72, no. 1 (December 2017). https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2018.029413.
Case-Smith, Jane, and Jane Clifford O’Brien. Occupational Therapy for Children. Maryland Heights, MO: Mosby/Elsevier, 2010.
Cooke, L. “The Importance of Exposure for Healthy Eating in Childhood: A Review.” Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics 20, no. 4 (2007): 294–301. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-277x.2007.00804.x.
Copple, Carol, and Sue Bredekamp. Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs: Serving Children from Birth Through Age 8. 3rd ed. Washington, D.C.: National Association for the Education of Young Children, 2008.
Hagan, Joseph F., Judith S. Shaw, and Paula M. Duncan, eds. Bright Futures: Guidelines for Health Supervision of Infants, Children, and Adolescents (Pocket Guide). 4th ed. Elk Grove Village, IL: American Academy of Pediatrics, 2017. https://brightfutures.aap.org/Bright%20Futures%20Documents/BF4_POCKETGUIDE.pdf.
Kramer, Paula, Jim Hinojosa, and Tsu-Hsin Howe. Frames of Reference for Pediatric Occupational Therapy. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer, 2020.
“Manganese – Fact Sheet for Health Professionals.” NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, March 29, 2021. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Manganese-HealthProfessional/.
Milestone Moments: Learn the Signs, Act Early. Atlanta, GA: Department of Health & Human Services USA, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011. https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/pdf/parents_pdfs/MilestoneMomentsEng508.pdf.
Min, Kyoung-Chul, and Yoo-Im Choi. “Review of Effectiveness Sensory Integration Therapy on Feeding and Oral Function of Children Focus on Single-Subject Research Design.” Journal of Korean Society of Occupational Therapy 29, no. 1 (2021): 101–13. https://doi.org/10.14519/kjot.2021.29.1.08.
Papalia, Diane E., Ruth Duskin Feldman, and Sally Wendkos Olds. Human Development. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2009.
Parham, L. Diane, Gloria Frolek Clark, Renee Watling, and Roseann Schaaf. “Occupational Therapy Interventions for Children and Youth with Challenges in Sensory Integration and Sensory Processing: A Clinic-Based Practice Case Example.” American Journal of Occupational Therapy 73, no. 1 (January 2019). https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2019.731002.
“Preschooler Development.” MedlinePlus. U.S. National Library of Medicine, July 2, 2021. https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/002013.htm.
Roley, Smith Susanne, Erna I. Blanche, and Roseann C. Schaaf. Understanding the Nature of Sensory Integration with Diverse Populations. Austin, TX: Pro-Ed, 2007.