Early childhood educators may try to shape children’s behaviors, in eating and general interactions, by offering them highly desired foods as rewards. Although food-based rewards may seem effective, this practice can lead to long-term unhealthy eating behaviors and a decreased liking of healthy foods. In this course, you will learn how to encourage children to try new foods and eat healthy foods by effectively using praise and non-food rewards as alternatives to food rewards. (2 hours)
View the course for free in On Demand
Objectives
- Recognize why it is important to avoid food-based rewards
- Identify the advantages of using praise over food-based rewards
- Create praise phrases to encourage children's healthy eating
- Implement appropriate mealtime rules
- Use rewards effectively
- Identify solutions to overcome challenges associated with using praise and rewards effectively
- Select goals related to using praise and rewards effectively
The EAT Family Style curriculum includes seven interactive, online courses. View information on the full series (PDF).
Note: At this time, this course is not available to Nebraska, Oklahoma, and South Dakota learners.
