• Go ahead--let your baby play with his food.funny eating baby girl image by Aleksey Kondratyuk from Fotolia.com
  
  As your baby grows, you want to introduce her to foods, but you're not limited to only eating foods. There are a number of activities that you can do with your baby that relate to food, including both playing and eating. Varying your food activities can help your baby learn new words and try new flavors.
  
  

Eating

• Most doctors recommend that you don't introduce solid foods to your baby until he is six months old, though some will allow you to do it as early as four months. Water down and puree your baby's first foods because he doesn't yet know how to chew. Introduce your baby to a variety of foods---cereal, fruits and vegetables---but leave at least three days in between introducing foods so that you can check for food allergies.
  
  

Play Food

• Purchase a set of toy foods to play with your baby, and bring them out occasionally. You can show her how you prepare foods and pretend to eat them. Some toy foods use hook and loop tape to stick together so that she can cut them in half. A small toy kitchen can also help with this type of role play.
  
  

Pudding Painting

• During feeding times, you probably do a lot of the feeding yourself to try to avoid letting your baby make a big mess. Sometimes, messes are OK. Sit baby in his high chair and give him a piece of paper and put a dollop of pudding onto the paper. Allow him to explore the way the pudding feels on his hands, and let him finger paint with the pudding.
  
  

Feel Boxes

• In a large pan, you can put a food that has some type of texture, such as oatmeal, flour or cereal. Include cups, spoons and small toys to let your child dig through. Vary the food each time you play this game so that your baby can get to experience the different types of textures. Watch her while she plays to be sure that she doesn't eat too much or choke on the food.
  
  

Baby Led Weaning

• Some experts believe that children don't have to start with pureed foods. Instead, they can have boiled foods that children can mash with their fingers and in their mouths. For example, you could give your child steamed baby carrots, bananas or boiled potato cubes rather than traditional baby food. If you're concerned about safety, you can use special nets for baby led weaning---you put small pieces of food in the net and allow baby to chew on it, but only small amounts will come out.