Supporting families to find the joy in cooking & eating together

Mealtimes Matter CIC is a not-for-profit organisation that supports children, families and schools to create positive mealtime environments and nurture a healthy relationship with food.

How To Feed A Dragon Programme

The fun, 8 week story-led sensory food exploration programme encourages children to use their food senses, develop cooking skills and feel more confident smelling, touching and tasting new foods.

By the end of the programme parents reported that fewer meals were refused at home each week and less food was thrown away

97%

of parents said that their child enjoyed attending the programme ‘a lot’

76%

of children tried more than 3-4 new foods at home during the programme

90%

of parents stated that they felt more confident managing family mealtimes

Families

Do I need to be concerned about my child’s eating habits? We help you identify what could be holding your child back from enjoying a healthy relationship with food.

Early Years

How to Feed a Dragon Programme Training is currently available for early years teachers, practitioners, teaching assistants or SENDCo leads in your setting.

Partnerships

We are proud to be supported by a number of partner organisations that also feel passionate about child feeding and happier, healthier family mealtimes.

  • 'My son has been so much more hands on (touching, preparing, helping) with different foods since we started the activities in the programme. Before the programme he wouldn’t want anything to touch his hands. He absolutely loved it and enjoyed every week, especially farm week!'

  • ‘My daughter loves getting the Dragon involved at mealtimes. She eats so many more foods when she sits at the table with Dragon. She feeds Dragon first, then she eats her meal. It has made such a difference to mealtimes at home’

  • ‘Feed the Dragon programme is a fantastic programme for the kids, we really appreciate every moment of the programme and it has really helped my son to want to explore new things’

  • ‘We found it really useful, even xxxx touching new foods and being excited about bringing ingredients home! She has loved it and it has been great seeing her try new things’

  • 'I have seen a massive improvement in xxxx’s interest in food - even touching and smelling food, previously she would refuse straight away'

  • ‘Didn't get chance to say thanks on Thursday but ty for your advice and support on the dragon course, both my children really enjoyed it and I can definitely see a difference in xxxx, he's told me this week he is going off pot noodle and yesterday he came over and asked to try some of my curry, I couldn't imagine him doing that a couple of months ago’

  • ‘Thank you so much. We have found it so beneficial and enjoyed following up at home. Given me confidence to cook more. We are sad that the sessions have finished and would be interested if there are any follow up sessions. Thank you :)’

Parents often ask…

Parents often ask…
How do I know if my child has sensory sensitivities and what can I do to support their eating?
How do I know if my child has sensory sensitivities and what can I do to support their eating?

The importance of different sensory experiences for young children is well known, we now have baby sensory classes, sensory rooms, sensory toys and a deeper understanding of how these sensory experiences impact a child’s life.

How can I stay positive when my child is refusing foods?
How can I stay positive when my child is refusing foods?

Between lack of sleep, cleaning up, constant questions and tidying up toys, parenting is an exhausting task but add food refusal into the mix and it can be the one thing that tips us over the edge.

What is a healthy relationship with food?
What is a healthy relationship with food?

A healthy relationship with food is a vague term, so what does it actually mean and why is it so important for our children to develop a positive relationship with food?

How do I know if my child is really hungry?
How do I know if my child is really hungry?

Children’s appetite does go up and down depending on growth patterns, how much exercise they have had, whether they are, or have been poorly or just something has upset them in their day that has made them not want to eat. So how do we know?