Dip It!

Dips are versatile, delicious purees that can add a lot of flavor to foods and also mask flavors for picky eaters. Flavorful dips can help someone whose system is under-responsive taste and enjoy foods while blander, more familiar dips (like gravy, cheese sauce or ketchup) can mask flavors of foods that taste really strong to kids who have an over-responsive sensory system.Dips add opportunities to introduce new flavors to a picky eater's diet. A child might not know they like graham cracker or cinnamon but in trying a taste of crushed cinnamon graham cracker as a dip (delicious with bananas!) they (and you) might find out they like both, giving you great direction for some new foods to try next! Dry dips like crumbled graham cracker can also be a great place to start for kids who are unsure about the texture of purees.Dipping adds a fun repetitive step to bites. Dipping is playful. It isn't directly about eating or taking a bite and kids find that fun! So try a dip or 2 or 3. Taste them from the tip of a spoon or from your fingers, from a chip or a chicken nugget. Taste them on your lips with a kiss or your tongue with a lick. Dip your toast in jelly, your pancakes in syrup. Add a song or a game to the activity. There are a few to get you started below.Add A Song:"I like to dip, dip, dip, dip my carrot. I like to dip, dip, dip my carrot" to the tune of "I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas."Make It A Game:Dipping Dots:Dip, dip, dip, done! or Dip, dip, dip, taste! or Dip, dip, dip, bite!Make circles of dip on a plate or tray and take foods dipping through the dots. When you've dipped in the last dot you can put the bite in an all done bowl, taste the dip or take a bite, depending on whether you're working on touching, tasting or eating the foods you're using.Enjoy! Happy food play!