Small pieces, two or three samples at a time, and scoring a child can do with numbers or with stickers.
A taste test keeps a table busy and teaches a child to describe what they are eating. Keep it small: two or three samples of one thing, pieces cut to a safe size, and one card each.
Children decide quickly, so score straight after each taste and move on. Nothing has to be finished, and a food they refuse is still a result worth writing down.
Set out: One small piece each of six fruits, in a line on one plate.
How to run it: Name the fruits first, then rank them by sweetness with the plate in front of everyone.
What to score: Sweetness, juiciness and the one everybody would ask for again.
Set out: Three dips with the same crackers, one spoon of each dip per child.
How to run it: Taste the dips in the same order, with a drink of water between them.
What to score: Crunch, salt and how well each dip stays on the cracker.
Set out: One sauce with four pasta shapes, the same amount of sauce on each.
How to run it: Taste one shape at a time and keep the sauce warm between plates.
What to score: Which shape holds the sauce, which is the most fun to eat, and which is easiest with a fork.
Set out: One slice each of apple, pear, cucumber and carrot, all cut to a safe size.
How to run it: Taste with eyes closed and put the slices in order from quietest to crunchiest.
What to score: How loud the crunch is, how juicy the slice is, and which one they finished.
Set out: Plain yogurt with three fruit purées stirred in, in numbered cups.
How to run it: Guess the fruit from the taste alone, then reveal the three purées.
What to score: Whether the guess was right and how much fruit they would want in their own bowl.
Set out: Three juices in small cups, one of them a mix of the other two.
How to run it: Taste all three and pick out the cup that is mixed.
What to score: One point for the right cup, and a score out of five for the one they would take to school.
Set out: Three half-slices of toast, each with a different topping.
How to run it: Taste a bite of each, then finish the one they liked most.
What to score: How easy it is to hold, how much topping stays on, and the one they would make themselves.
Set out: Three small scoops of frozen yogurt or ice cream, in three flavors.
How to run it: Take the scoops out together so all three are the same softness.
What to score: Creaminess, sweetness and whether the flavor tastes like the fruit it names.
Set out: Three smoothies in covered cups, each a different color.
How to run it: Guess the fruit in each from the color and the taste, writing the guess down first.
What to score: Correct guesses and the smoothie they would drink again.
Set out: Three cookies: one crisp, one chewy, one soft, broken into small pieces.
How to run it: Taste a piece of each and keep the rest of the cookie for after the scoring.
What to score: Crunch, chocolate taste and which one they would choose in a shop.
Set out: Three kinds of tomato, one small piece each, and a pinch of salt on a saucer.
How to run it: Taste plain first, then with salt, and score the two rounds separately.
What to score: Sweetness, juiciness and whether the salt changed their answer.
Set out: Three plain cereals in small bowls, no milk, one spoon of each.
How to run it: Taste one cereal at a time, with a drink of water between bowls.
What to score: Crunch, sweetness and which one they would eat without milk.
Set out: Four kinds of berry, washed and cut to a safe size, on one plate.
How to run it: Taste from the smallest to the largest and score before the next one goes in.
What to score: Sweetness, sharpness and which berries they would put on yogurt at home.
Score every idea on the same four lines: flavor, texture, value and would you reorder, each out of ten. Write the number down before the table starts talking, because the first score is the honest one. If the samples cost the same, drop value and score out of thirty instead.
The quiz works out which city eats the way you do, and the planner turns any city into a route of dishes with what to judge at each stop.
The setups that keep labels, prices and order out of the room.
An evening at home with coffee, cheese, chocolate and hot sauce.
Scoring rules that turn a table of tasters into a game.
Bigger formats: city routes, brackets and a month of scorecards.
From around four, with an adult at the table and every piece cut small. Younger children can still take part by setting out the plates and handing round the cards.
Two or three. Children decide quickly, and a fourth sample usually gets the same answer as the third.
Ask about allergies before the test day, read the packaging of everything you set out, and keep each food on its own plate so nothing touches anything else.
The same four lines work with smaller numbers. A range from one to five, or a row of stickers, gives the same ranking without the arithmetic.
That is a result too. Score the smell and the look instead, and leave the sample on the plate.