Welcome to the SOS Blog
Here you will find free articles, fun tips, and some of our favorite strategies to help kids learn about and explore new foods. Check out the categories below:
Understanding Picky Eaters and Problem Feeders
Setting Your Family Up for Success
Fun Tips to Help Your Child Learn About New Foods
Seasons Ideas and Holiday Tips
Understanding Picky Eaters and Problem Feeders
Are all children picky?
Many parents have been told by well-meaning professionals that they do not need to be worried about their child’s eating habits. However, it is not true that all children are picky. Nor is it true that they will all outgrow it. Keep reading to learn more about what we know about Picky Eaters.
Keep ReadingWhy You May See Increased Feeding Challenges During Times of Stress or Change
When children and their families are undergoing major changes in their lives, whether this is related to stress or a positive life event, any child’s eating or feeding can be easily disrupted. Read about the 4 main issues and learn strategies to get your family back on track
Keep ReadingWhy we don’t use the ARFID diagnosis
ARFID is a diagnosis that the American Psychiatric Association created in 2013 to replace the old diagnosis referred to as Feeding Disorder of Infancy and Early Childhood. Read more about the challenges with this new diagnosis and what diagnosis we prefer instead.
Keep ReadingManaging Stressful Times with a Picky Eater or Problem Feeder
Learn how stress and adrenaline can wreak havoc with your child's appetite and make mealtimes more challenging, as well as strategies to support your child and family.
Keep ReadingHow do I accept food waste when implementing a pressure-free approach?
Learning about new foods doesn't need to be wasteful; learning and exploring food is never a waste. It's valuable time for your child or student to have with food regardless of what level of learning or exploring they are at. Keep reading for some strategies to help reduce food waste while supporting a child in learning to eat.
Keep ReadingSetting Your Family Up for Success
Natural Strategies to Help Children Achieve Feeding Milestones
Learn more about attunement and the Division of Responsibility and how these ideas impact how we can help support babies in learning to eat.
Keep ReadingPreventing Picky Eating: Strategies to help your family get back on track
This quick article outlines our first three recommendations for almost any family who comes in for a feeding assessment. Watch how these three strategies start to shift mealtimes at your home.
Keep ReadingSupporting Your Child's Posture for Meals (and Schoolwork)
Postural stability is an essential aspect of your child’s learning, whether they are learning how to eat, learning about new foods, or learning about math! It supports your child not only at mealtimes but also for homework. Learn how to adapt your child's chair to provide stability and watch meals, and schoolwork, get a little bit easier.
Keep ReadingPlanning for School Lunches
With a little bit of planning, you can help set your child up for success during meals and snacks at school.
Keep ReadingFun Food Books to Explore with your Child
Sometimes, learning about new foods during a meal is just too hard, especially if everyone is stressed. Sometimes, even getting your child to the table for meals can be hard. One way around this is to start conversations around food, separate from mealtimes (without the pressure to eat or taste it).
Keep ReadingFun Tips to Help Your Child Learn About New Foods
Exploring Shapes and Flavors: Introducing Pasta Varieties to Your Picky Eater
When it comes to children with feeding difficulties, introducing new foods can be a challenging task. However, pasta, with its versatile nature, provides an excellent opportunity to expand their diet by exploring different shapes and flavors of pasta.
Keep ReadingExploring Food with Cookie Cutters: Engaging the Senses for Kids’ Learning and Fun
By introducing cookie cutters, you can not only transform ordinary meals into playful creations, but also engage your child’s senses to learn about food through visual, touch, smell, taste, and eating. Learn about the 4 ways we love using cookie cutters to learn about food.
Keep ReadingExploring Fruits: Engaging the Senses at Lunchtime
Encouraging picky eaters to step into learning about new foods can seem like an impossible task as a parent. When it comes to incorporating fruits into their meals, it’s key to engage their senses and create an enjoyable lunchtime experience. Using the Steps to Eating we can change the way fruits are presented to encourage kids to engage at their level.
Keep ReadingUtilizing Appetizers to Introduce New Foods
Understand how appetizer plates can help support kids in learning to explore new foods and get inspired to try a new strategy out in your home!
Keep ReadingKitchen Tools to Support Oral Motor Skill Development
There are many kitchen tools we love and use in therapy. The best part is that they are generally everyday tools that you already have in your own kitchens, and they transform the way kids can engage in food. And we aren’t talking about just knives and forks.
Keep ReadingNeed New Ideas to Help Expose Your Child to New Foods?
A common concern parents share is that it can be hard to expose your child to new foods, especially if they aren’t able to eat meals at the same time with the family or if they are reluctant to even being in the same room with you if you are eating something different. Here are a few simple ideas that you can start incorporating tonight!
Keep ReadingPull Up a Seat in the Garden
We want to talk about gardening as the therapeutic table we can set for our kids be it in the summer or even all year long. Here are some helpful tips and ways to engage your kids even if you yourself are a novice gardener.
Keep ReadingSeasons Ideas and Holiday Tips
Pack a Little Protein into those Sweets this Valentine's Day
Instead of fighting with the sugar season, how about adding some protein, fruit, and veggies to those treats and feel a little better about what’s on the plate.
Keep ReadingValentine’s Day Strategies for Picky Eaters
Holidays can be tough on kids - keep reading to learn why and make a plan to make this holiday go a little more smoothly!
Keep ReadingOatmeal Banana Cookies
These simple cookies come together very quickly and only require a few pantry staples – and use up those spotty bananas! This is a very kid-friendly recipe, so it is okay if the measurements aren’t exact. Make sure you try out the Food Scientist Tips at the bottom to personalize them!
Keep ReadingHow are you celebrating St. Patrick's Day?
Check out these fun food ideas with a rainbow theme!
Keep ReadingPickles and Popsicles – Fun with Summertime Food
Gardening and making something to freeze are both awesome summer activities! There is something so curious and intriguing about watching food grow and then watching it transform. Some of the best learning about food happens in these natural, unforced environments.
Keep ReadingFall Fun with Apples (and Pears!)
Check out this article with some great ideas to introduce your child to apples and pears.
Keep ReadingQuick Recipes with High Calories and Nutrition
Check out these fun, kid-friendly recipes for fudge and milkshakes (both with dairy-free options) that have some great nutrition and easy to consume calories!
Keep ReadingStrategies for a Happier Halloween with your Picky Eater
Learn why holidays can be so difficult for your child, and help set them up for success!
Keep ReadingExploring Holiday Foods
The grocery store can be filled with all sorts of seasonal fruits and vegetables, as well as holiday-themed packaged foods. Choosing something unfamiliar can be a fun learning experience for the whole family! Check out this article for more ideas on how to use the novelty of the changing seasons to help your family learn about new foods!
Keep ReadingWinter Fun in Food School!
Have you ever wondered what feeding therapy using the SOS Approach to Feeding looks like? Take a peek at some of our sessions this week.
Keep ReadingLooking for more ideas?
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SOS Parent/Caregiver Resource Libraries