A Highly Sensitive Speech Therapist’s Guide to Clean and Nutritious Snacks for Picky Eaters.
As a feeding specialist, neuro-divergent person, and picky eater myself I have a long list of nutritious snacks to choose from that I am excited to share with you today.
In fact, my family, friends and clients alike – know my affinity for squirreling and consuming clean and healthy snacks – when I start to feel my blood pressure drop and a slight pang of hunger – watch out!
These snack recommendations provide energy, nutrition and even chewing practice to improve all those important oral motor skills.
Here’s a few of my mealtime favorites organized by developmental age, oral motor difficulty and textural composition.
One of my favorite and trusted baby food brands to practice spoon feeding and tasting pureed fruits and vegetables with is once upon a farm organics.
https://onceuponafarmorganics.com/
Once Upon a Farm was co-founded by actorJennifer Garner and is the first baby food brand to be given a Clean Label Project Purity Award.
The brand has also partnered with Recyclops to recycle and reuse the food pouches.
I love that they are working towards a cleaner environment – double win!
I love these nutritious Once Upon a Farm food pouches for many reasons:
- These pouches are easy to travel with and filled with organic and sustainably grown fruits and vegetables.
- They use a clean, cold pressed process to preserve nutrients, taste and texture.
- Each snack pouch contains no added sugar, additives or preservatives.
- Luckily there is a huge variety of delicious flavors and recipes to choose from – for all your little picky eaters.
Stonyfield’s yo baby yogurt cups are adorable and nutritious!
These little packable cups of yogurt are made with organic ingredients and come in no sugar varieties.
It is important to practice spoon feeding with your child. Please don’t just rely on those popular food pouches alone!
Yes – food pouches are super convenient, but your child needs to practice stripping food from the spoon with their lips to build up their lip strength, mobility and control.
Primarily using a food pouch will encourage an anterior sucking pattern with their tongue..
This oral motor pattern should change into a more mature chewing pattern and lateral tongue movement as they grow and move towards spoon feedings and chewing solids.
Moving away from food pouches and using an actual bowl and spoon is extremely beneficial for the growth and development of your child’s feeding skills and ability to tolerate a variety of textures.
Stonyfield yogurt cups are a great way to start practicing those spoon feeding skills with your little ones!
https://www.stonyfield.com/products/yobaby-whole-milk-baby-yogurt-cups-strawberry-banana/
As your child transitions to trying some soft chewable snacks – I love to introduce them to happy baby organic teethers.
I adore these teethers as a first step to introducing early chewing skills for many reasons:
- Happy Family Organics was Founded by moms on a mission.
- Their products are free from the use of toxic persistent
pesticides and packaged without BPA, BPS, or phthalates.
- Their teething wafers are a perfect choice – made with jasmine rice flour and a touch of organic fruits and veggies.
- These teething wafers dissolve easily – making them a great safe choice for introducing soft chewable snacks.
When first introducing these teething wafers I love to dip them into yogurt and use them like a dipping spoon with the baby or child. This feeding technique is called food chaining.
Food chaining – combines a texture that a child is similar with a new and novel texture.
This technique of food chaining allows the baby or child to experience new foods and tastes in a safe and neuro-affirming manner – while slowly expanding their taste and texture palate at their own pace.
When introducing new foods it is important to follow the child’s lead and read their facial cues – if they are grimacing, puckering their lips or gaggling – it may be time to take a step back and just allow them to look or touch the food – instead – slowing down the overall introduction of the new food.
Last up – I will review some of my most trusted recommendations for super crunchy snacks – as your child learns the oral motor control to manage harder solids and more chewable snacks.
Here are some of my tested and tried favorites for improving chewing skills and providing oral sensory input for all those sensory seekers.
Lundberg rice cakes are my most beloved rice cakes!
https://www.lundberg.com/collections/rice-cakes-chips
I adore these rice cakes for multiple reasons:
- These rice cakes are made with organic whole grains
- These rice cakes come in adorable mini snack packs – which are perfect for packing into your child’s lunch box.
- Their new sweet flavors include: birthday cake, salted caramel and apple pie – can you say yummy?
Next up, is another one of my trusted and favorite brands for snacking – Harvest Snaps .
https://shop.harvestsnaps.com/collections/classic
I love these harvest snap baked organic green pea snacks – this is a powerhouse snack for many reasons!
- They provide ‘a powerful flavor punch’ with added sea salt in each bite.
- They give that awesome crunchy feedback your little ones are looking for.
- They are made from organic vegetables – adding to this snack’s nutritious profile.
It is important to remember that many neurodivergent children need added sensory stimulation throughout the day.
By giving your child these crunchy snack options – you are providing them with that added sensory kick and feedback that they are craving – throughout the day naturally – how cool is that?
I hope you have found my tasty and nutritious snack recommendations helpful for all your little picky eaters.
I would love to hear what some of your child’s favorite clean snacks are?
Drop them in the comments below …
Until next time …
Sincerely,
Heather Lynn Boerner, MA CCC/SLP
Is your child highly sensitive? Is your child a picky eater?
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Our services include:
- Speech Therapy – Individualized, play-based support for language development, speech clarity, social communication, and everyday confidence.
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Meet Heather: Neurodiverse-Affirming Speech Therapist in NYC
Heather Boerner, MA, CCC-SLP, is a New York-licensed and nationally certified speech-language pathologist with more than 20 years of experience supporting pediatric communication development. Her clinical work integrates evidence-based practice with mindfulness, trauma-informed care, and a neurodiversity-informed lens.
She is the founder of Chatty Child Speech, Occupational & Physical Therapy, PLLC, where she provides individualized support to help children strengthen communication, confidence, and functional daily skills. Heather is also the author of Carrie the Colorful Chameleon, a children’s book centered on identity and self-expression.
She offers in-person therapy in Tribeca and virtual services across New York State, supporting children in building practical communication skills and greater confidence across everyday settings.
