Fun Kid Food to Help Sensory Children with Textures and Nutrition

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You may have picky eaters at home, or you may have been a picky eater at one time yourself, but for kids who have sensory issues or a Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), they may never grow out of the “picky eater” stage. In fact, kids with sensory issues struggle with all types of textures, especially when it comes to food. For us, eating can be a wonderful experience, but for children who struggle with the skin on apples, the stems on broccoli or even the heat of a casserole coming out of the oven, eating can be a frustrating and even painful experience.

For ideas on how to prevent meltdowns during mealtime or even ideas to help your child cope with certain textures of food, read Meal-time Tricks to Avoid Sensory Meltdowns.

So how do we make fun kids food that will also help them overcome some of their struggles with textures? Today, we’re going to be showing you some fun and creative ways to incorporate different foods into your child’s meals along with healthy fruits and veggies that calm their behavior and improve their attention and focus.

Fun Kid Recipes

Here are fun kid food ideas with some great recipes that you can use to make meals a better experience at home. Feel free to change it up with any creative ideas you may have.

Protein Breakfast Pancakes

Protein is one of the best foods for behavior and attention and focus when your child is getting ready for school. This is a great idea to help your child get excited about their breakfast every morning. Scramble up some eggs for the hair along with some oranges and strawberries for facial expressions and add them to these great protein pancakes with silly faces.

Ingredients

• 6 egg whites
• ¼ tsp. cinnamon
• ¼ tsp. nutmeg
• 1 tsp. Stevia
• 2 scoops chocolate protein powder
• ½ cup oats (refined)
• Ketchup Squeeze Bottle (optional)

Instructions

Mix ingredients together for two minutes. Warm up your grill or skillet. Add some pancake batter to the Ketchup squeeze bottle and squeeze your funny face on the skillet. After adding your silly face to the skillet, let it cook for one minutes and add more batter on top of the face. Flip the pancakes and the face will appear.

Protein Owl Snack

One of my favorite mid-day snacks is to create an owl out of toast, peanut butter and apples. This healthy snack combines fruits with sticky peanut butter that you child can taste and take to school.

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. peanut butter
• 1 slice 7-grain bread or wheat bread (gluten free)
• 1 apple
• Cashews
• Banana slices
• Blueberries

Instructions

Toast your bread and combine ingredients on top of the bread. Be as creative as you would like.

Froggy Lunch Sandwich

Kids will love this fun frog sandwich with its eyes and tongue. It gives kids a chance to take the sandwich a part and eat it piece by piece, experiencing all the different flavors and textures.

Ingredients

• 2 slices 7-grain bread or wheat bread (gluten free)
• Cheddar Cheese (shape cheese into teeth)
• Turkey or any other lunch meat of choice
• Pickle
• Olives

Instructions

Add turkey, cheese and pickle to bread. Add olives on top for the eyes with toothpicks. Take creative liberties with your frog.

Fun Pizza Dinners

These fun pizza faces are a great way to try out new vegetables with your kids. You can add any vegetables your kids may like or ones they haven’t tried yet.

Ingredients

• Gluten free pizza dough
• Spaghetti sauce of choice
• Parmesan cheese
• Vegetables of choice (carrots, zucchini, olives, red peppers, red peppers, etc.)

Instructions

Warm oven to 350 degrees. Roll pizza dough into small pizzas. Add spaghetti sauce and cook for 8-10 minutes. Add cheese and vegetables to the top of your pizza. Bake again until vegetables are soft.

Enjoy and have a wonderful time making fun kid food at home.

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Integrated Learning Strategies is a Utah-based center dedicated to helping mainstream children and children with learning challenges achieve academic success. Our services provide kids with non-traditional tutoring programs within the Davis County, Kaysville, Layton, Syracuse, Farmington, and Centerville areas. Areas to find Integrated Learning Strategies include: Reading tutors in Kaysville, Math tutors in Kaysville, Common Core Tutors in Kaysville, Tutors in Utah, Utah Tutoring Programs