Sensory Texture Boards

I like this idea of making Sensory Texture Boards.  Click here for details.

Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Reindeer

I found this blog today and love the idea!  Big Brother loves chocolate, so this would be a great project to make with him. Click here for instructions.

Pint Sized Chefs

One great way to help kids learn about food is to get them involved in planning a meal, shopping for ingredients, and preparing the meal.  While Big Brother is too small to use a knife or the stove, he can help with meal preparation in other ways.  For example, he puts silverware and napkins on the table and he washes vegetables and fruit.  Washing vegetables and fruit provides a low-pressure way for him to come into contact with food - food that if presented on his plate, he wouldn't be willing to touch.

I recently bought the book, C is for Cooking: Recipes from the Street (Sesame Street that is).  Big Brother loves Elmo and Cookie Monster and he is very excited to have his very own cookbook.  I looked through the book prior to giving it to him to get an idea of which dishes he might like.  Then Big Brother and I looked through the book together and he chose several recipes he wanted to make.

Today we made Rosita's Honey Pear Crisp.  (The recipe contains cinnamon, a spice that he really likes, so we thought this would be a good recipe to try.)  Big Brother washed the pears.  He watched while I peeled the pears and we talked about how the outside skin is greenish-yellow and smooth, but the flesh is white and slippery.  He helped make the topping (he loves to stir), "paint" the lemon juice on the pears with a pastry brush, and sprinkle the topping over the cut pears in the baking dish. 

We ate the pear crisp after supper.  He enjoyed eating the crunchy "crisp" part of the dessert and explored the pear by poking it with his finger.  Baby Sister on the other hand, heartily ate the pear (she loves fruit), but left the crisp on her plate.  :)

Kid-Friendly Recipes
The following resources contain good kid-friendly recipes.




























http://www.weelicious.com

Big Brother's Food Chart

I created the following food chart to use when Big Brother tries new foods.  We try new foods during snack time (trying new foods during a meal is too hectic!).  We write the name of the food in one of the columns at the top of the chart and then Big Brother puts a star sticker in each square as he accomplishes that goal with the food.  This chart is a great motivator for him because he loves earning stars (including the tractor picture also made the chart a hit because he loves tractors!).

Feel free to use this chart or make your own.  To download this chart, click on the chart below for a larger image.  Right-click on the image, click Save Image As, save it to your computer, and print.

Great (FREE!) Booklet About Pediatric Feeding Issues

I discovered this booklet published by Gerber during my initial research on pediatric feeding issues.  This booklet provides information about normal development, as well as signs of a feeding disorder (see below).  It also provides common reasons why children have feeding difficulties and how you can get help.  Click here to download the booklet.

Early Signs of a Feeding Disorder (my son exhibited 5 out of the 6 signs)

1. Inability to transition to baby food purees by 10 months (oral-motor/sensory)
2. Inability to accept table foods by 12 months (oral-motor/sensory)
3. Inability to transition from breast/bottle by 16 months (lack of proper exposure/oral motor)
4. Inability to wean off baby foods by 16 months (oral-motor/sensory)
5. Avoidance of food groups of specific textures or food groups (sensory)
6. Parents report that the child is difficult for anyone to feed and meals are a battle zone (any combination of the above)

Play with Your Food!

"Play with your food!"  That's not a phrase you hear most parents use, but that's exactly what needs to happen...especially for kids with feeding difficulties.  I know this concept is difficult for parents.  I'm a Type A neat-freak and the last thing I want is Nutella and peanut butter smeared all over the table and chair!  However, kids need to play with their food so they can learn about it before they try to eat it.  Trying food means:  looking at it, touching it, smelling it, licking it, putting it into the mouth, and finally chewing and swallowing it.

Playing with Pasta
We eat a lot of pasta at our house.  Little Sister loves spaghetti, but Big Brother doesn’t want anything to do with cooked pasta (he’ll eat dry pasta because it’s crunchy).  One of our goals is to food chain with Big Brother so that he will accept pasta.  We’ve just started working our plan and here’s what we've done thus far.

Big Brother loves to read and point out letters he knows in books, so I thought I’d make “trying” pasta into a game.  Before we even started, I stressed that I didn’t expect him to eat the pasta…we were just going to have fun and play with it.  First, I poured some uncooked pasta in my hand and showed it to him.  I explained that it was letters – just like in his books.  Then I put the pasta into boiling water and cooked it.  I drained the pasta, ran some cold water over it so it was just warm, and put some on his plate.  He was hesitant to touch it.  I showed him how to look for various letters that he knew and he got excited about playing our new game.  He pushed several letters aside with one finger to locate one of his favorite letters.  Success!  (He’d never touched pasta with his fingers before.)  He quickly became tired of the game and wanted to wipe the food off hands, so we stopped.

A few weeks later...Big Brother is learning about shapes and loves shape sorting games so I cooked up pasta of various shapes (mini-ziti we called "pipes," fiori” we called “wheels," and orzo we called "rice"), cooled them and put them all mixed up in a bowl.  I told him that I didn’t expect him to eat it and that we were just going to play with it.  I gave Big Brother three empty bowls so he could sort the pasta shapes.  At first he didn’t want to touch the pasta with his hands, so he dumped it from one bowl to another.  I then put some of the cooked pasta into a Ziploc bag so he could feel it without having to actually touch it with his hands.  He had a lot of fun squishing the pasta in the bag.  He had spilled some pasta on his place mat and after a while I asked if he could help me clean up the mess and put the pasta back in the bowls (he loves to help).  He was quite enthusiastic about helping mommy with this task and I praised him for being such a good helper.  He played with the pasta for a few more minutes and said he was done, so we stopped.  Success again!

Notes
Each time we played with the pasta:

• We didn't play with it during mealtime.  I told him that we were just going to play with the pasta and that he didn't have to eat it.  Because it was a game and he knew I wasn’t trying to pressure him to eat it, he was more willing to participate.
• He had a wet washcloth on his place mat.  He is much more comfortable touching things if he knows that he can quickly wipe food off his hands.
• I tied his food therapy in with things that Big Brother is currently learning and likes to do.  As a result, he was more interested in participating.
• I kept my expectations in check and showed respect for him.  I didn’t pressure him to eat the pasta, made sure that he had the things he needed (a wet washcloth) to feel like he could safely participate, and didn’t push him to keep going after he said he was done.
• I offered lots of praise.  Everyone loves to receive encouraging words for a job well done!

Books about Pediatric Feeding Issues

I'm currently reading a couple of books about pediatric feeding issues.  I'll share some of the ideas I'd like to implement in Big Brother's at-home feeding therapy in a future blog post.

Here are the books I'm reading.
Pre-Feeding Skills, by Suzanne Evans Morris, P.D., CCC-SLP & Marsha Dunn Klein, M.Ed., OTR/L - This book is geared towards medical professionals, but I think it's a good book for parents to read as well.  I skimmed much of this book due to its technical nature. 














Just Take a Bite!, by Lori Ernsperger & Tania Stegen-Hanson - This book is geared toward parents and educators and provides practical ideas for incorporating food therapy into your everyday life.