A few days ago, we posted our top 15 tips and strategies for dealing with a picky eater. Today, we would like to share some of our favorite products to help you along the way.
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After working with our own picky eaters at home and consulting with our friends who are feeding specialists, we’ve put together a solid list with some great suggestions for tools, toys, and games to help support picky eaters at home or in the therapy room!
Have you tried any of these in with your child? What are your favorite tools for promoting healthy eating in kids?
Tools to Help Picky Eaters & Support Other Feeding Difficulties
Food Related Games & Toys
Games can be a great way to help picky eaters explore food and to practice fine motor skills used for utensil use. Here are a few of our favorites:
Divided Suction Bowl
This bowl with a suction base keeps your child’s food in place and the separate compartments can keep food from blending together or “touching” as many picky eaters tend to dislike!
Bear Bottle for Straw Drinking
This bear bottle allows you to control the flow of liquid into a child´s mouth and encourages children to learn how to drink through a straw. It can also be used to transition from bottle-feeding to cup drinking.
The Duospoon
This flexible spoon has silicone bumps all over it for a great oral sensory experience! Once your child becomes interested in the texture of the spoon, it easily becomes a bridge to introduce purees and from purees into textured foods. Use it as a dipper with favorite smooth purees. It can also be used as a tool to help improve upper lip movement and removal of food from a utensil.
Munchkin Mesh Bags
Munchkin Food Feeder Mesh Bags are awesome for oral stimulation and exploration of tastes without having to worry so much about textures of foods. These are great for kids who are exploring foods but may gag or choke with larger pieces, as the mesh only lets small amounts of the food through.
Other resources related to feeding challenges in kids
Looking for more ideas and information about picky eating and other feeding challenges? Check out the posts below for more resources!
How to Help Kids Practice Self-Feeding With Utensils
What is the Oral Sensory System
Oral Sensory & Olfactory Strategies for Teens [FREE Printable]
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Can you talk a bit more about the Dinner Winner plate? I am reluctant because feel it may lead my child to want to win rather than pay attention to his body. What are your thoughts? Thanks!
Hi Marnie,
Great question. I would definitely lean away from using the plate to measure the quantity of food the child has eaten. Instead, I would use it as a tool to provide exposure to new foods. I would alternate tried and true favorite foods with new/less desired foods in each of the plate’s spaces. Then, I would encourage the child to taste, touch, smell, or take a bite (depending on how severe the child’s picky eating is) of each of the foods to get to the end. So “winning” wouldn’t be about finishing everything on the plate, but about exploring all of the presented options in some way (hopefully by tasting eventually!). Does this make sense? I totally agree with you about supporting a child in knowing his or her body when it comes to how much food to eat. Thanks for bringing up a great point!
thanks for posting! I’m researching assessments for our center to use and it seems like the Brief Autism Mealtime Behavior Inventory (BAMBI) and the Pedi-EAT are reliable and lit reviewed. Do you use either of these or recommend something else to measure progress? Thanks in advance!