Picky Eater Mealtime Strategies

By Rebecca Turner, MA, CCC/SLP 

Mealtime can be frustrating when you have a child who is very picky about the foods that they will eat.  I wanted to share with you some strategies or things you can be doing at home to help with some of those Picky Eating behaviors. 

 

1.     Schedule meal and snack times -Be consistent with when you eat and limit snacks or juices.  If your child is snacking all day, they won’t be hungry.

2.     Let your child help plan and prepare meals – Children love to feel like they are contributing, and preparation builds an appetite and teaches responsibility.  Even young kids can help with stirring or adding ingredients.

3.     Make Food Fun – Present food in new and exciting ways: pizza with a face out of pepperoni and vegetables, ants on a log, etc. There are also several fun placemats and plates like the one pictured above, that make eating into a game.

4.     Food Play: If your child is very resistant to try a certain food, allowing them to do some food play, where the goal is interacting with the food, not necessarily eating it, may help.  Using carrot sticks to stir soup or use ketchup to ‘paint’ with the broccoli

5.     Offer them choices. Rather than ask, “Do you want broccoli for dinner?” ask “Which would you like for dinner, broccoli or green beans?”  This allows them to have a little bit of control over the food choice.

6.     Tasting plate:  Offer the same foods for the whole family.  Pass it around and let everyone take one or two things to try. Talk about the colors, shapes, and textures on the plate.  The more kids are exposed and understand, the more willing they will be to try. 

7.     Exposure: Keep exposing them to the foods, don’t just try once and stop.  The more familiar they are with seeing the food, the more willing they are to try it. Also, be sure to set realistic expectations.   They won’t eat ½ cup of peas, but if they eat 5 it is a step in the right direction!

A great resource for more information on healthy balanced meals, recipes, and activities for kids and adults is www.choosemyplate.org

Articulation Practice with Books

By: Brittany Haller, MS, CCC-SLP

Articulation is defined as “the formation of clear and distinct sounds in speech.” When a child substitutes one speech sound for another, such as “wabbit” for “rabbit,” we can target the correct sound production through speech therapy. Speech-Language Pathologists can work on articulation in a lot of different ways, but one of my favorite ways is by using books. Parents can also use “sound-loaded” books to practice target speech sound production at home.

Sound-loaded books are simply books that have a certain sound in them frequently. When reading these books aloud with your child, you can pause and focus on the words that have their target sounds. Using books for speech practice allows you to not only work on articulation, but to also target language, literacy, and even social skills! It can be a fun, interactive way to learn.

You may be wondering where to start with using sound-loaded books for practicing speech at home. If you haven’t already received a copy of your child’s speech therapy goals, I recommended obtaining a copy to familiarize yourself with which sounds they are working on, as well as what level they are working on (single words, phrases, sentences, etc.) Then, find a book that is loaded with your child’s target speech sounds. I recommend the following source: https://www.speechsproutstherapy.com/2015/01/sound-loaded-storybooks-for.html However, if you search “sound-loaded books for articulation” on the internet, you will find many wonderful resources.

After you have familiarized yourself with your child’s goals and have received your books…HAVE FUN! Don’t be afraid to get silly or creative. You can prompt your child to repeat the target words, talk about the pictures, relate the content to your own experiences, and anything else that helps them practice those correct productions. 

Yoga and its Therapeutic Benefits

Yoga and its Therapeutic Benefits

By: Ashley Akers M.S. OTR/L

One of my favorite therapeutic activities is yoga! Why? I love that it is easily accessible to families because no materials are required! Yoga also has a wide range of benefits and works on many skills at the same time. To name just a few, yoga works on:

1.      Overall body strengthening, especially with core and postural muscles

2.      Proprioception or body awareness skills

3.      Improving balance and the vestibular system

4.      Crossing midline or reaching across the body to the opposite side- an important skill for so many daily tasks like writing and dressing

5.      Motor planning skills

6.      Self-regulation! Yoga encourages self-awareness and teaches children tools to manage feeling overwhelmed or stressed such as deep breathing and relaxation techniques

Good poses to start with when first working on yoga with your kiddo:

1.      Tree Pose

2.      Downward Dog

3.      Mountain Pose

4.      Child’s Pose

5.      Cat/Cow Pose

**Cosmic Kids Yoga on Youtube is a great channel to start**

Tools to Grow also offers great resources: https://www.toolstogrowot.com/therapy-resources/gross-motor/pediatric-yoga