Sensory smells

Engaging the senses with different smells to sniff! You don’t have to set up elaborate activities to get your little ones senses tingling! You can do this whenever you’re cooking or eating. At this age their sense of smell is heighted so even a subtle smell of cucumber will be a brand-new experience for them! Encourage them to smell all the amaaazing cooking smells in the kitchen, from sniffing all the herbs, spices, cheese, fruit or vegetables + let the aroma of frying onions, bubbling Bolognese + marvellous mushroom risotto waft across into their noses! Then smelling their spoon-full before they taste. Mmmmm... Top tip! You can pretend to be bunny rabbits + start sniff sniff sniffing together!

Our research has shown us that little ones who experience veggies and fruit using all their senses are more likely try those foods and to eat them when mealtimes come around. Remember, the more times your baby tries a new food, the more likely they are to learn to accept it and grow-up to become good little eaters. Did you know it can take up to 10 times for your little one to learn to love a new taste? …so keep trying!

Your baby's sense of smell is closely linked to taste + can influence what they like to eat. They may even like similar smells + foods to their mum, as they will have experienced them in the womb! Encourage your little one to smell food (like herbs + spices) before eating it to get the full flavour experience.

Let your baby have a whiff of different smells like: