Snack Choice Board
Four snack pictures a child can point to at snack time, so choosing does not depend on speech. Change the four foods to whatever is actually in the cupboard before you print it.
- 4 options
- Free printable PDF
- Editable in browser
US Letter, portrait, 2in cards.
When to use this board
Hold it within reach at snack time and honor whichever picture the child touches. Food is the easiest place to start a choice board, because the payoff for communicating arrives within seconds rather than at the end of a lesson.
Snack is a strong first board because the motivation is already there. A child with no reason to use a board about coats will use one about crackers, and the underlying skill of pointing to indicate a want carries over to the harder boards later.
Keep all four options real. If one picture shows a snack you will not actually hand over, the board turns into a quiz, and a student who is tested rather than answered stops using it.
Four is a comfortable array for most children. Two is the honest starting point for a child who is new to pointing at pictures at all, and the maker drops to two in one click.
Cards that fit this board
The slots print at 1.5, 2, or 3 inches square, the same sizes the free PECS card templates cut to, so a card from either set lands on either board. Print the blank Velcro version above, add a hook-and-loop dot to each slot, and swap the options as the day changes.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a snack choice board?
- It is a small printed board showing several snacks as pictures. The child points to the one they want, and the adult gives that snack. It is one of the most common first uses of a choice board in early years and special education settings.
- Why start a choice board with food?
- Because the reinforcement is immediate and obvious. The child points, the snack appears, and the connection between the picture and the outcome is easy to make. Boards about less motivating topics tend to work better once that link is established.
- How is this different from a PECS card?
- A PECS exchange means the child hands a card to a communication partner. A choice board keeps every option in view on one page and the child points instead. Many classrooms run both, and Spectrum Unlocked has a separate PECS Card Maker for the exchange version.
- What if the child points to everything?
- Drop the board to two options and build back up. Pointing at everything usually means the array is too big to scan rather than that the child wants all four, and a two-option board makes the choice legible again.
- Can I use photos of our own food?
- Yes. The maker takes an uploaded photo in any cell, which matters when a child recognizes the exact packet in your cupboard but not a generic drawing of a cracker.
- Is the snack board free?
- Yes, in US Letter and A4, portrait or landscape. Change the four foods, print it, and laminate it if it is going to live on a classroom wall or a fridge door.
Related templates
Free Time Choices
Six activities a student can choose from during free play or centers, shown as pictures rather than asked as a question. Change the six to whatever is genuinely available in your room today.
Yes or No
Two three-inch cards, yes and no, printed large enough to read across a room. This is the board most students start on, and the one that keeps working when everything else is too much to scan.
Blank Choice Board
Four empty squares under an editable prompt. Print it as it is and write the options in by hand, or fill the cells with pictures and text on screen and print a finished board.