Snapshot — School teaches children to play with their food

As they do every Wednesday at 3 p.m., a group of 3- and 4-year-olds assembles in the occupational therapy department at the UNMC Munroe-Meyer Institute.

“This is the way we march to snack, march to snack, march to snack,” they sing to the tune of ‘Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush.’ “This is the way we march to snack here at Food School.”

When Food School started, Brevin refused to touch peanut butter, Thomas wouldn’t even smell a carrot and Ben didn’t go near milk. William’s family members had offered him cash to simply try new foods. No dice.

New food on a plate is traumatic for these students.

Ben Smith, 3, blows bubbles in his milk at Food School, a program started by the occupational therapy department at UNMC’s Munroe-Meyer Institute. Playing with food and drink is highly encouraged by therapists like Carla Christianson, shown here, as it helps problem feeders explore new foods.

At the first session of Food School last summer, William sobbed and kept his hands in his lap the entire time, only taking them out to push his plate away.

When Food School students won’t eat food, their teachers encourage them to … well … play with it.

They might paint their faces with yogurt or use pretzel sticks to swordfight. They pretend Oreo straws are flutes and fake sneeze Cheetos.

“With play, you can explore a lot about food before you ever put it in your mouth,” occupational therapist Holly Dixon said.

KETV at food school View a story by KETV’s Julie Cornell about MMI’s food school.

Prior to Food School, William’s dad tried withholding his son’s favorite foods until he was hungry enough to eat.

“It was meltdown city,” Jeff Buckner said.

Aside from money, Buckner also tried to bribe his son with balloons and stuffed animals just to try one bite of a fry. He even told William he could spit it out if he didn’t like it. Nothing worked.

“Bribery and coersion only create a power struggle and give children control,” Dixon said. “We want children to choose to eat on their own.”

Today, William doesn’t mind new foods on his plate. Thomas licked a carrot recently and Brevin painted the letter B on his plate with peanut butter last week. While Ben still doesn’t drink milk, he will blow bubbles with it.