13 Tips for Mealtime Supports in Early Childhood Programs

Mealtime and snacktime can provide opportunities to help children build a variety of skills and strengthen adult–child and peer relationships. Through frequent repetition and growth, children can acquire complex adaptive, social-communication, and fine motor skills during mealtime routines. Some young children may need extra help with aspects of mealtime and snacktime. Support strategies can include a variety of adaptations or modifications to daily routines, activities, and environ­ments to meet targeted outcomes at home and in classrooms. Use these tips from Volume 4 of the AEPS^®-3 Curriculum—Growing to support children during meals.

• Pay attention to children’s cues for when they are getting hungry, and make sure mealtime occurs before they get too sleepy to participate.
• Give children plenty of alerts about transitions to mealtime, especially if they are engaged in an activity that is difficult for them to leave.
• Assign table buddies by pairing children who have slightly more advanced mealtime skills and more varied food preferences with children who are more cautious and have less advanced skills.
• Thin or thicken new foods to encourage young children who are sensitive to new textures to try them.
• Remove children who become distressed at the table for a minute or two to let them calm down, and reseat them afterward if they want to come back to the table.
• Position children for comfort and stability during mealtimes. Seat a young child who is learning independent eating skills in a child-size chair or highchair if possible. Provide seating with foot and arm support and a comfortable seat with a back, so the child can focus on eating rather than maintaining their sitting posture. (For children who have more intensive positioning and mobility needs, ensure seating that offers a secure base as well as arm and wrist fixation, such as an adaptive chair with seat belt, tray, or cushions that can be repositioned to meet the child’s needs.)
• For children who struggle with participating in family or classroom mealtimes, encourage practice with the social routines and expectations of mealtime by providing a pretend food or kitchen set to play with.
• Teach the child to use culturally accepted table manners and language they may need to be successful at the table.
• Address concerns about extreme eating habits and resistance to change by having a specialist do an oral-motor examination to rule out physical causes for eating issues.
• Teach children who cannot speak to use simple signs (more, all done) so they can communi­cate their preferences.
• Learn to recognize children’s cues and preferences. Pair sign language with spoken words for children who are nonverbal or who have hearing impairments.
• For children who are picky eaters, start with foods the child likes or tolerates, and introduce new foods gradually. A picky eater may have a sensitive gag reflex, sensitive taste buds, or increased sensitivity to smells. Keep a food journal to see if any patterns emerge, and keep close track of food consistencies, tastes, and textures the child will eat. Offer small amounts of new foods many times.
• For children who need intensive physical support during mealtime, provide hand-over-hand graduated guidance (physical prompts) for skills that children find difficult (bringing one hand to the mouth to eat, scooping food from a bowl, drinking from a cup). As the child begins to perform the specific skill or step with full support, fade help gradually from hands, to wrists, to elbows.