They pushed the plate away
A pushed plate is often too much food, too many new things, or a tired child. Slide the familiar food back within reach and let the new food stay at the edge.
Read the push
End the meal when they are done. Offer food again at the next snack or the next meal, not five minutes later as a contest.
A push can mean “too much in front of me.” A smaller plate of the same foods is a fair answer.
In the next minute
Stay seated. Move the familiar food closer. Do not reload the plate with a different dinner.
If they climb down, the meal can be over. Chasing with a spoon stretches a finished meal into a fight.
What it is not
One pushed plate is not a new rule about that food. It is information about this meal.
If every meal ends with a shove and tears, talk to your child’s doctor or a feeding therapist.
A sentence you can say
“Here is the rice, closer.”