Families

Taking the stress out of family mealtimes.

Mealtimes Matter CIC wants to support you to enjoy family mealtimes more often. We understand the challenges of trying to encourage your children to enjoy a varied diet and so we provide programmes, online workshops and resources to help you navigate and by-pass these hurdles more easily.

Our services aim to support parents of children with challenging eating behaviours such as food refusal, sensory sensitivities, binge-eating or disordered eating patterns. We always promote the sensory enjoyment of food first and foremost and gently encourage a varied and balanced diet.

89% of parents stated in their pre-programme questionnaire that their main barrier to providing a healthy family meal was finding foods that everyone would like’

At Mealtimes Matter we work on the 5 principles to developing a healthy relationship with food.

  • Developing Food Sense - using the 8 food senses

  • Positive Food Talk - using supportive food language

  • Food Fun - relaxing and having fun with food

  • Getting Involved - finding age-appropriate food activities that children can join in with at home

  • Positive Mealtime Environments - understanding other factors that impact the enjoyment of a meal

How To Feed A Dragon Programme

The 8 week sensory food exploration programme takes children through a journey with a hungry Dragon, who is a long way from home, in search of Dragon foods.  He needs to discover a way to enjoy new foods so that he can refuel his body, feel well and fly back home.

Parent Workshops

As part of the How to Feed a Dragon Programme we offer opportunities to join our online parent workshops. These workshops allow you to ask any questions about the programme in a safe space and gain useful practical tips and strategies that you can use at home to support your child to develop a healthy relationship with food.

The workshops are led by a qualified Public Health Nutritionist.

  • '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?