Blog Hopping with Tiny

Tiny is excited to be partnering with a variety of mommy bloggers, nutritionists, SLP/OT and other pros in her upcoming Blog Hop! 

We will all be writing about an assortment of important topics from our own unique viewpoints, to kick off 2015 with great ideas for an inspirational start to a happy new year!

Topics will include:

Monday, January 5

Tiny Tastes is all about helping children and families reach their full potential! 

What are your health goals for your family in 2015?

And what practical steps will you take to help reach them?

Monday, January 12

Tiny loves creative, easy, and healthy foods for kids!

Share some unique ideas for fun and nutritious foods that are simple enough for young children to help make in the kitchen. Also, your tips to help kids want to taste new things!

Monday, January 19

Tiny Tastes can inspire kids to taste things that they may not think they will enjoy.

Use the Tiny Tastes app with a child this week and describe your experience using it.  

Monday, January 26

Tiny was once nervous to open up Tiny’s World. Some kids are afraid to try new foods. Parents face a variety of struggles.

Describe a time that you were faced with a challenging new situation. How did you overcome the fears or challenges, and what happened when you stepped out of your comfort zone to do it?

Monday, February 2

Eating healthy food is awesome, and Tiny also enjoys doing healthy activities too!

What healthy activities do you enjoy doing with your family/children? How do you make healthy activities a priority in the midst of the rest of your family’s busy life?

Look forward to pooling thoughts and ideas from some wonderful people!

Visit us at TinyTastesWorld.com to learn more about Tiny Tastes, our app that can help young children have fun trying new foods!

We look forward to getting to know new friends through our Blog Hops... so please also message us if you'd like to stay in touch about future blogging opportunities, if these topics aren't specifically suited to your blog's theme this time around!

Tiny's On The Phone!

This is a big day for me... I've been waiting patiently for the development team to have this new app version ready for you! 
Tiny Tastes is now even more accessible to use -- since it has come available for phones! 
You can now download Tiny Tastes from the App Store for iPhone or at Google Play for Android phones.  


Yours,
Tiny


Visit us at www.tinytastesworld.com

Shhh... A Fun Surprise For Tiny!

Celebrate the holidays with Tiny! She will be so excited to receive a gift from your child. These sweet little surprise packages are now available to buy in the app's Tiny Shop.

While using the Tiny Shop, which contains lots of free items for Tiny to use in the app, it can teach children both the value of earning coins to save up enough to buy things for Tiny, as well as the value of sharing and buying things for someone else to use (for Tiny!) while your child experiences the joy of giving.

The app's Tiny Shop will always offer free items to shop for by using the coins your child earns while eating and drinking with the app. If you would also like to support Tiny Tastes and unlock new features within the app, you can buy things in the special Caregivers Store with your real App Store account to buy our secure in-app-purchases. More fabulous items will be coming out soon... so stay tuned on Facebook and on our blog to learn when new things come out to have even more fun with Tiny!

Visit us at www.tinytastesworld.com

Congratulations!

Congratulations to the winner of our Holiday Contest: Solveig Heide Koczak

We appreciated everyone's entries, and Tiny loved the pictures that were sent! Thank you all for your participation and we hope you're having a beautiful holiday season.

Visit us at Tiny Tastes World on FB to stay in touch with all the latest ~ 

We hope your family has fun trying new things together!

Visit us at www.tinytastesworld.com

Last Chance To Enter

Today is the last chance to join these kids in some Tiny fun! It's the last day to enter Tiny's Holiday Contest. Visit www.TinyTastesWorld.com to find out how you can win a kid's tablet in time for Christmas. 

Once you enter online, plug in to the extra chances to win using your child’s artwork on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter! Plus -- when you share Tiny's contest post from her Facebook page to your own, you will get 1 EXTRA contest entry!  

Please use our hashtags when entering the contest with your child's artwork: #tinytastesworld #tinytastesapp #healthykids

Contest runs through midnight tonight!

Visit us at www.tinytastesworld.com

Can't parents just model healthy eating?

I had an interesting conversation on Facebook about this topic today....

Someone asked me if I didn't think parents would be good enough candidates to model healthy eating -- i.e. why shouldn't we just let real-world role models do this for their kids, since we know that research has shown peer/parent modeling can be one effective way to help children eat more new healthy foods? 

I would definitely encourage parents to model healthy eating and to be good role models for positive food attitudes within their family (1). However, in reality this does not always translate into a child wanting to join along with them....

My reply was that I don't know of any equivalent modeling studies yet that specifically use cartoons who model positive eating behaviors. But the Tiny Tastes app concept is based on the widespread experience that we've consistently observed: the seemingly "magical" impact that cartoon characters and other media can have on influencing children's behaviors and learning in general. 

Tiny offers a very cute, neutral way to engage children, while still leaving it up to the child entirely to decide if he/she wants to join Tiny and eat along with her! 

For example, Tiny Tastes may be similar to the Popeye approach (2) where children are inspired to eat the same thing that they see modeled in front of them by a hero or animated "friend"! 

We also know that cartoon advertising of food products has an impact on a child's food preferences and intake amount. (3)  And also that healthy foods promoted in media are associated with a child's higher preference for those foods and vice versa. (4) 

Since we know that what children see on the Screen can really impact their food choices in a special way, why not harness the power of media/technology for good?

Tiny will invite your child to share their healthy foods with her through the app... and as they watch her enjoy the very same foods that are in their own meal, they can be inspired to join her by doing the same!

Visit us at www.tinytastesworld.com


(1) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15003137
(2) http://jhppl.dukejournals.org/content/30/5/803.short
(3) http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002822301000128, http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/hea/28/4/404/
(4) http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953607002730

Tiny Visits DC + Sees Obamas

Yesterday I visited lots of hospitals around the DC metro area to let them know about Tiny Tastes! I had meetings at:
- MedStar Georgetown Hospital
- Howard University Hospital
- Children's National Hospital
- and several other clinics along the way

My main goal was to stop by and say hello -- I love meeting new people! The doctors, feeding therapists, nutritionists, and child life specialists with whom I met in DC were full of compliments and questions... they were all so interested to learn about the new Tiny Tastes app and how it can help their patients!

While I was at Children's National, I saw something very amazing happening. It was their holiday celebration event, and our First Lady Michelle Obama was up on stage with the children at the hospital! It's wonderful that she could spend some time there to bring something special to these children & families who are spending the holiday in a hospital.

After each of the app demos in DC, I showed the medical providers a new product that we are working on called Tiny Tastes PRO! This is a companion product to the Tiny Tastes app, and we'll be sharing more details about it soon. But the brief summary of Tiny Tastes PRO is that it will function as an online web portal where parents and medical providers will be able to instantly see a visual history of everything a child has eaten along with Tiny in the app (or not) over time. This allows caregivers to easily track a child's progress with certain textures, colors, or types of food, as their dietary intake expands over the course of weeks or months. 

As a result, we already have a few feeding therapy clinics signed up to be Beta Testers for Tiny Tastes PRO. This means that in 2015 they will get a period of free access to the online product while they give us feedback in return. This will allow us to customize the web portal for their clinical needs, while it provides them with a free glimpse into their patients' home dietary intake patterns to optimize their patient care plans. Parents will also love Tiny Tastes PRO, since it will eliminate the need for hand-written detailed "diet records" which can be tedious to keep track of. Instead, simply use the Tiny Tastes app and let us do the rest!

If you think your clinic may be interested in participating in the free Beta Testing program with Tiny Tastes PRO, we are forming a waiting list now so please contact us for more information about this opportunity.



Yours, 
Tiny

Visit us at www.tinytastesworld.com

Holiday Contest Entries

Have you entered Tiny's Holiday Contest yet?  These kids have!  And they are sharing their love for Tiny through their beautiful artwork.

Visit TinyTastesWorld.com to find out how you can win a kid's tablet in time for Christmas. 

Once you enter online plug in to the extra chances to win using your child’s artwork onFacebook, Instagram and Twitter! Plus -- when you share Tiny's contest post from herFacebook page to your own, you will get 1 EXTRA contest entry!  

Please use our hashtags when entering the contest with your child's artwork: #tinytastesworld#tinytastesapp #healthykid

Contest runs through midnight on December 18, 2014.

Brought to you by www.tinytastesworld.com

Kids Love Tiny

 

Here are more of our contest photos... so adorable! Thank you to all the parents who are taking the time to download Tiny's app and participate with their children in our contest. It's exciting for us to receive such positive feedback and see how much fun kids are having with Tiny!

Visit us at www.tinytastesworld.com

Tiny & Emily Meet Rachael Ray!

It was so much fun to be part of the live studio audience for a taping of the Rachael Ray show in NYC!

We began the experience by waiting in a long line out on the sidewalk in the wintery cold weather here... waiting for security to check our bags and go through an airport-security-grade scanner before we could enter the building.

Then almost 100 of us were waiting in a small "holding room" where we were shown a video of the episode clips that were shot earlier in the day. Apparently they film her show in shifts & chunks. Today was a makeover episode, and unfortunately the audience who was part of the first taping of the day only got to see the "Before" version of the featured woman who was receiving a makeover. Luckily for us, our audience group was the last shift of the day so we got to watch the Before footage while we were in the holding room... and then also experience the full transformation of the After reveal while we were in the studio as the rest of the episode was filmed in real-time with us. I hadn't realized that there could be more than 1 studio audience involved in the taping of a single episode of a show. If look closely at the audience, you may notice it sometime! 

And of course there was the cooking segment - Rachael showed us how to make a warming vegetarian meal, as well as how to prepare those fabulous kale chips that we see in the markets a lot now. It is actually really easy to bake them up at home, for a delicious & nutritious alternative to other salty snacks!

Today they were also filming an episode for an early-January showing already now too. For that segment, they had a panel of 3 experts join Rachael in her kitchen, one of each sharing their medical, nutritional, and financial advice for 2015. The nutritionist that Rachael invited to speak in this episode was actually Keri Glassman, who is someone who has written about picky eating. We wish we could have spoken with her, since she was right across the room there talking with Rachael and she would probably be VERY interested to hear about Tiny Tastes! But due to filming we didn't get that moment to talk. Ah well, maybe she will read our blog someday  :)

Tiny's Holiday Contest Is Here!

We have 2 words for you: FREE TABLET! 

We're celebrating the Holidays with a contest!! 

Visit www.TinyTastesWorld.com to find out how you can win a kid's tablet in time for Christmas. 

Once you enter online plug in to the extra chances to win using your child’s artwork on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter! Plus -- when you share Tiny's contest post from her Facebook page to your own, you will get 1 EXTRA contest entry!  

Please use our hashtags when entering the contest with your child's artwork: #tinytastesworld #tinytastesapp #healthykids

Contest begins today --December 1, 2014-- and runs through midnight on December 18, 2014. Winner will be notified via email on December 20, 2014.

Good luck!!

Want to Share Tiny Tastes with Your Patients?

These promo cards are just the right size -- 2-sided and shaped like business cards, they make it easy to let your patients know how they can find Tiny Tastes! 

We would be happy to mail you a stack of cards that you can keep in your office or clinic, so that they are on-hand when you want to let your patients know how they can download this helpful app to try it FREE! We've had Registered Dietitians, Feeding Therapists, and Pediatricians all get excited about how Tiny can help their patients have an easier time eating healthy new foods.

If you would like to receive these cards for your practice, please contact us to request them.

Visit us at www.tinytastesworld.com

Tiny Tastes Tutorial Video

Check out my new app!

Tiny Tastes is a lot of fun to use! Kids join me on all kinds of neat adventures inside the app, and become more likely to eat new things when they feed me the same food they are served at meals & snacks ... to see how much I like it first  :)

You can download Tiny Tastes for FREE on the App Store! 

Yours,
Tiny

Visit us at www.tinytastesworld.com 

A Holiday Contest?

I'm preparing a holiday contest to celebrate the season as well as the launch of our new tablet & phone platforms ... plus we also have some upcoming surprise items that will be featured in the app. You'll want to make sure you stay connected to our blog, website and our social media pages for more information. There's always exciting new things happening in Tiny Tastes World!

Yours, 
Tiny


Visit us at www.tinytastesworld.com

Bell Pepper Flower Power!

Sometimes children will try something new if it's presented in a pretty or unique way. I recently found this lovely breakfast idea and was excited to give it a try myself. The sweet red peppers are my favorites! You can turn Bell Peppers into pretty flowers for breakfast... or, with the holidays coming, the reds and greens also look like beautiful Christmas ornaments!



If age-appropriate, you can involve your child in the preparation of this lovely breakfast:

1) Cut peppers into 1/2 inch rings.
2) Place in lightly oiled skillet. 
3) Crack one egg in the middle of each ring, cover & cook until done. 
4) Enjoy your pretty and healthy meal!

Bell peppers have a lot of vitamin C and other nutrients in them. Pair with a protein packed egg to make fun, healthy & delicious food!

Yours,
Tiny

Visit us at www.tinytastesworld.com

App Map

My Tiny Tastes app was designed for young children, especially for those around 2-6 years old. We've heard great feedback from parents of children within a wide range of ages though.... 
Tiny Tastes is completely free to try, so give it a whirl!

Here you can see a little bit more about how the app is laid out and some of the activities that I get to share with children as they join me there:

Yours,
Tiny

Visit us at www.tinytastesworld.com

Tiny's Big Debut! (aka: Nutritionists Love Tiny!)

Nutritionists from around the country just had their first chance to experience Tiny Tastes!

And this was actually my first experience setting up an exhibitors booth... we had a 10'x10' kitchenette in the exhibit hall, where hundreds of other companies were also doing demos, handing out free samples, and touting the health benefits of their products. Dietitians crowed through the aisles to learn about all the latest in food & nutrition products!

Our booth was in the California Fresh pavilion, since the Tiny Tastes app is often used by parents who want to help their children eat more healthy fruits & vegetables. The hundreds of dietitians who walked by were instantly captivated by the adorable Tiny! Even dietitians who don't work with children were still excited to learn about the app, whether for their own children who would have fun trying new healthy foods with Tiny, or to take back our information to share with the pediatric dietitians at their hospitals.

There are so many reasons why Tiny Tastes is a great fit for pediatric dietitians to use. 
For example:

1) In the hospital setting, lots of patients lose their appetite or are struggling to get in the mood to eat when they are feeling sad and lonely in a hospital bed. Dietitians, feeding therapists, and child life specialists have all been excited to share Tiny Tastes with their patients in order to encourage them to take in good nutrition during a time when this can be a struggle for a lot of kids. 

2) In the outpatient clinic setting, there are many dietitians and feeding therapists who wish that there was a way to help families implement their feeding recommendations at home. It's one thing for a parent to listen to what a medical provider says and agree that it sounds like a good idea... but it's a whole other challenge to make those changes at home and have their child follow through with them there. Tiny Tastes is neutral enough (and therefore widely-applicable enough) so that a medical provider can make almost any type of nutrition or feeding recommendation that is customized to their unique patient's needs, and Tiny can help the family follow through on it at home!

At the conference, we had lots of different types of dietitians share how they would use Tiny Tastes: (paraphrasing here)

-- I work with EoE patients who develop a fear of eating, after suffering with all the pain that was caused by the offending foods for so long... I could really see Tiny helping these kids have a positive experience with foods, and she could help reduce their fears about eating.

-- My specialty is childhood obesity. I would use the timer feature of the app and following the gradual emptying of Tiny's plate, to encourage these children to eat more slowly and mindfully along with Tiny instead of rushing through their meal. A lot of these kids eat so quickly that they aren't sensing their body's satiety signals. I would also want the app to take a picture of the vegetables on their plate, to show Tiny enjoying those veggies!

-- Many of my autistic (ASD) patients have a very limited diet. We never want to force anyone to try new foods, but at the same time these limitations can sometimes lead to nutritional inadequacy. So when I see this fun new tool that we can use to help these kids consider trying something new, I'm excited for my patients to watch Tiny to eat new foods and maybe inspire them to try something new too someday!

I could go on and on... it was so interesting to hear how all of their different types of patients could benefit from using this app. To learn more, you can check out the information we have for healthcare professionals on our website.

Visit us at www.tinytastesworld.com

Tiny Tastes Tour

Let's tour the wonderful world of Tiny Tastes!

First you can select Story Time to join Tiny on an adventure where she experiences all kinds of fun new things! It is a "choose your own adventure" story, with twists and turns, as well as customizable content as  children earn new clothes and things for Tiny to use in the story.

The app includes a story component to help draw children into Tiny's world... it forms an interest in what Tiny is doing and entices children to join her when she heads home at the end and is ready to eat. 

Children can skip the story though if you are short on time and want to go directly to "Let's eat!" or "Let's drink" to join Tiny for a meal or snack.

The drinking component was included since some children struggle more with drinking than with eating. Whether the goal is to finish a high calorie supplement-drink to help an underweight child gain weight well, or to have a child drink water or juice to help alleviate constipation, or otherwise... they can join Tiny while finishing their beverage.

The Tiny Shop contains all kinds of items that your child can buy for Tiny using the coins they earn while eating or drinking with her. We created a kitchen-item store, since we know that when children have more choices and control in the what and how they eat, they tend to be more invested in the eating process. The fun variety of spoons & bowls will offer them a lot of options during meals/snacks. 

There is also a Caregivers store, where parents/adults can buy app upgrades using real money too, if desired. We kept this department separate from the rest of the stores, so that the children's stores and the rest of the app can remain ad-free and child-friendly. The app upgrades will be super-fun though... this component of the app isn't activated yet, but will include additional story items, special features, new story-lines, and more fun things for Tiny to use in the app!

The Settings include all sorts of helpful features for parents, including reminders for meal/snack times (which can help the busy caregiver remember when it's time to offer food), sound options, and timer default settings. It also includes the tutorial as well as a place to leave feedback.

We welcome your comments, suggestions, and/or stories about how your family is using Tiny Tastes!

You can also visit us online to contact us with any thoughts or questions ~

Visit us at www.tinytastesworld.com