Developing a Fun Sensory Snack Diet
Judy Benz Duncan, Occupational Therapist
Sensory diets are a common strategy used when addressing a child’s sensory needs in relation to their specific needs. Sensory diets are based on a child’s specific sensory needs – this article is discussing a specific part of a sensory diet: Sensory Snacks
By providing a therapeutic sensory diet, you may, over time, restructure and retrain a child’s brain to process sensory information from their sensory receptors in such a way that will promote self-regulation of activity, focus, mood/behavior, and the ability to process the sensory information to participate more fully in regular home, social, and school routines.
While there are more components that make up self feeding and food acceptance, this article is focusing on developing a sensory snack diet for your child who may have sensory processing concerns. A sensory snack diet is a small but important part of a total sensory diet.
You can achieve the best, most optimal success, when you discuss and plan this out with your child’s services providers. The best choice is in-person evaluation and assessment in order to meet all of your child’s needs.
I cannot stress enough that in order to fully address your child’s needs, evaluate for the outcomes you are looking for, and for direct guidance and direction through the entire process, it is extremely important to discuss and plan with your OT/PT/ST and service providers before starting out with any sensory dietary approach and plan for your child.
The following food categories can be used in setting up your child’s Sensory Snack Diet:
Sensory Snack Diet: Food Strategies to “Wake Up” the Mouth:
Cold food can be useful to ‘wake up’ your mouth before you eat something else.
Popsicles
Fruit juice frozen into mini ice cubes
Frozen grapes or berries
Frozen bananas
Frozen peas, carrots, corn
Ice drinks
Ice chips
Frozen yogurt bites
Sensory Snack Diet: Food Strategies for “Chewing Needs”
Jerky snacks
Meat sticks
Hard cheese or string cheese
Cereal bars
Thick and chewy bread
Dried fruit
Banana Chips
Chewy sweets (gummy bears, Swedish fish, etc)
Chewy candy like Tootsie Rolls or Caramels
Marshmallows
Toffee bars
Chewing gum
Bagels
Sensory Snack Diet: Food Strategies for “Sensory Alerting” and Meeting the Need to “Crunch:”
Crunchy food
Raw vegetables
Hard taco shells
Celery
Waffle Cones
Fruit slices
Bread sticks
Dry cereal
Toast (extra toasted for crunch)
Dried veggie chips (sweet potato)
Cheerios
Cheese Puffs
Cheetos (crunchy)
Peppers
Arrowroot cookies
Cheesy Crackers
Fiber Crackers
Animal Crackers
Goldfish
Rice Cakes
Snap peas
Cucumber slices
Nuts
Crackers
Popcorn
Sensory Snack Diet: Food Strategies for “Sensory Alerting” without the Crunch:
Spicy food
Hot salsa
Cinnamon cereal
Pickles
Olives
Chili or Mexican food
Sour fruits or juices (lemons, limes, grapefruit)
Sensory Snack Diet: Food Strategies for “Sensory Needs for Biting, Grinding, Pulling/Tugging with Teeth”
Liquorice
Straws
Chewy toys designed to improve jaw strength (Chewy Tubes)
Fruit bars
Fresh fruits and vegetables
Fruit roll-ups
Toffee bars
Water bottles with ‘sports tops
Sensory Snack Diet Includes Developing Sucking and Blowing Oral Motor Muscles
Sucking and blowing activities and exercises can help develop a child’s oral-motor muscles without having to deal with eating / chewing / feeding at the same time.
Sensory Snack Diet Includes Strategies for Developing Sucking Strength, Coordination and Control:
Use longer, curly, thinner straws or bundles of straws
Use twisty straws
Use a straw to drink yoghurt
Use a straw to drink fruit puree
Use a straw to drink fruit smoothies - an easy one to grade the consistency
Sucking frozen fruit or ice cubes
Lollipops
Hard sweets
Water bottles with ‘sports tops’
Sensory Snack Diet Includes Strategies for Developing Oral Motor Control and Strength for Blowing:
Blowing bubbles using a straw in a cup/bowl
Blowing bubbles in drinks
Blowing bubbles
Musical instruments (horns, harmonica, kazoo, etc)
Blow a whistle
With straw or mouth, blow light items across the table (cotton balls, popped corn, paper or feathers)
Blow up balloons
Sensory Snack Diet: Make Your Own Olfactory /Smell /Oral Motor /Taste Box
Sensory Boxes can be kept in a shoe-box, a plastic container with lid, a tackle box, a lunch box, and so on. You can mark each type of box with the child’s name, type of box, place a photo of the child on or in the box if you so choose, or let the child decorate their sensory box.
If your child withdraws or becomes overwhelmed with any of the activities or media presented, move on to something else! Your child may only tolerate one or a few of the ideas suggested – remember it’s trial and error and giving your child some control over what they will work with will help in preventing sensory overload.
Items that may be included in an olfactory and oral motor sensory activity box include:
o Essential Oils (explore a child’s acceptance and personal choice)
o Child safe chewables / oral motor chewies
o Candles (not burning) to smell
o Spices and herbs (use with close supervision and good judgment)
o Blindfold (if they will tolerate) for game of identifying smell
o Tasting game (is it sweet, sour, spicy, salty, cold, warm, crunchy, chewy, lumpy) where they may try new foods and textures as part of the “game”
o Bubbles to blow in different sized and shaped bubble wands
o Blow bubbles through a straw
o Straws -Try to suck thick shake or yogurt through a straw (short straw, curly straw, wide straw, etc.)
o Child-safe scented lotions and sprays
Sensory Snack Diet: Turn Gelatin into a Fun Sensory Taste-Testing Activity
Never force a child to touch or feel something they find overstimulating or distressful. Work with what is tolerated and try to expand from there.
Begin with less challenging textures and work up towards new and more challenging textures (from firm and dry to wet and sloppy/messy). Give control on what they will touch, if they will only look at, and for how long to your child.
Let them stop when ready – not when you feel it is time to stop.
The variety of activities and ideas provided here are by no means the only things you can try - personalize, adjust, and modify to fit your lifestyle, and your child’s needs and abilities.
1. Mix up some gelatin (one color, or a variety) and when it is cooled but not set, let your child drop in small plastic or rubbery toys
2. Once the gelatin sets, have your child dig in to remove all of the items; have them use a spoon or fork if they cannot tolerate touching the gelatin - Play “find the treasure” with the set gelatin
3. Since it is edible encourage your child to lick their fingers or even take small bites
4. Try different colors and flavors
5. Try dropping in some small cut-up pieces of fruit or vegetables instead of non-edible items and see if they may take a taste as they pull them out of the gelatin
