Busy Philipps' (47) Genius Trick for Getting Picky Kids to Eat Anything

Most parenting advice for picky eaters stays pretty cautious, keep kids away from anything sharp or messy and let the adults handle the actual cooking. One actress and mom of two takes a completely different approach in her own kitchen.

Her method involves handing over more responsibility than most parents would ever consider, plus a specific way of thinking about picky eating itself. Keep reading to see what she actually does.

Her Advice Starts With Something Most Parents Avoid

Busy Philipps has said the key to getting kids interested in food is letting them genuinely participate in cooking, rather than doing everything for them. That includes letting kids handle cutting themselves, something a lot of parents would instinctively want to avoid.

Her reasoning is that kids who get real responsibility in the kitchen, not just stirring or measuring, grow to genuinely enjoy the process rather than seeing cooking and eating as something done to them. Giving up that control, she has said, is worth the mess that inevitably follows.

She Understands Picky Eating As Something Deeper Than Stubbornness

Philipps has also talked openly about how differently her two daughters approach food. She has described one of her daughters as a supertaster, someone for whom flavors genuinely feel overwhelming rather than simply unappealing.

That reframing changes how she approaches the picky eating itself. Instead of treating refusal as stubbornness, she has said she tries to understand it as a real sensory difference, which shapes how patient she is willing to be about the whole process.

Persistence Matters More Than Any Single Trick

Rather than relying on one single trick to win over a picky eater, Philipps leans heavily on repetition. She has referenced the idea that it can take asking thirty times before a picky kid actually tries something new, and she has said she keeps reintroducing foods rather than giving up after one refusal.

She has also said she pays attention to details like using seasonal produce, since fruits and vegetables tend to taste their best in season, giving a picky eater the best possible version of a food to try. That combination of patience and small, practical adjustments does more than any single dramatic trick ever could.

Even A Silly Family Invented Dessert Earns A Place At The Table

Not everything in her kitchen is about strategy, some of it is just fun. Philipps has said one of her family’s go to treats is a dessert her kids actually invented themselves, Hawaiian rolls filled with Nutella and sliced strawberries.

That kind of kid led creation gets treated as seriously as anything else on the menu in her house. It is a small reminder that getting kids excited about food does not always require a strategy, sometimes it just means letting them make something themselves.

So if a picky eater at home keeps refusing everything on the plate, it might be worth handing them a task in the kitchen instead of another new recipe. Sometimes the real trick to getting kids to eat is simply giving them a reason to feel invested in the outcome.