Feeding Therapy Activities Families Can Try at Home

Therapy Redefined offers feeding therapy services for kids who need a boost to make mealtime a favorite activity again. Here are some simple activities you can do at home to increase your child's appetite and expand their diet.

1. Food Exploration Without Eating

Let your child touch, smell, squish, stack, or play with foods without any expectation to taste them.

Example: Make “food rainbows,” build with carrot sticks, or squish yogurt with fingers. This lowers anxiety and increases comfort around new foods.

2. Taste With Tools

Use a spoon, paintbrush, straw, or even a toothpick to “paint” or dab tiny tastes on lips or tongue. This helps kids explore flavors while reducing pressure to take full bites.

3. Smell + Describe Game

Have your child smell different foods and use fun words to describe them (sweet, stinky, crunchy, smooth, spicy, or sour.) This builds curiosity and sensory awareness.

4. Kitchen Helper Tasks

Invite your child to pour, mix, rinse produce, or tear lettuce. Kids are more likely to try foods they helped prepare.

5. “Try It Plate” or Learning Plate

Use a small side plate for “learning foods.” Your child doesn’t have to eat anything - just having it nearby builds tolerance.

6. Modeling Without Pressure

Eat the same food in front of your child and narrate your experience: “Crunchy! This apple is cold and sweet.” Kids learn by watching, not by being pressured.

7. Build a Food Ladder

Introduce foods that are similar to what your child already eats—same texture, shape, or flavor—but just slightly different.

Example: chicken nuggets → homemade chicken strips → shredded chicken.

8. Keep Mealtimes Short & Positive

Aim for 15–20 minutes at the table with screen-free, low-stress routines. End before things become a battle to keep the experience positive.