# Their own spoon

You hand them a loaded spoon, and they practice bringing it to their mouth without dropping the food.

To do with your toddler between 12 and 18 months. It works on: hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills. You'll need: spoon and medium bowl with food.

## What do I need?

- Spoon
- Medium bowl with food

## How do I do it?

1. **Get the food ready.** Pick a thick food that sticks to the spoon: thick mashed potatoes, Greek yogurt or stiff oatmeal. Serve it in a medium bowl. Sit your little one at the table and set out two spoons, one for you and one for them.
2. **Hand over a full spoon.** Load their spoon yourself and put it in their hand. Invite them to bring it to their mouth without tipping it. At first they'll turn it and the food will fall off, but with practice they'll keep it level all the way.
3. **Let them load it.** Wait until they can get it to their mouth without turning it, then encourage them to dig it into the food and load it on their own. Each time it reaches their mouth, cheer with a “Well done!”, even if it arrives empty.
4. **Finish without rushing.** Clear the table when they lose interest or start playing with the food. Try again at another meal.

### Take care

Stay right beside them the whole time they're eating, and only offer foods they already eat.

## What are they learning?

To bring the spoon to their mouth without spilling, they have to adjust their wrist and keep it level the whole way. They look at the bowl, work out where to move their hand and discover that the hollow of the spoon holds the food. It's how they practice feeding themselves.

- **Hand-eye coordination**: Guides the spoon with their eyes from the bowl to their mouth
- **Fine motor skills**: Turns their wrist to keep the spoon level

## What the research says

- von Hofsten C. Eye-hand coordination in the newborn. Developmental Psychology. 1982;18(3):450-461. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.18.3.450 (https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.18.3.450)
- Berthier NE, Carrico RL. Visual information and object size in infant reaching. Infant Behavior and Development. 2010;33(4):555-566. doi:10.1016/j.infbeh.2010.07.007 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infbeh.2010.07.007)
- Gerber RJ, Wilks T, Erdie-Lalena C. Developmental milestones: motor development. Pediatrics in Review. 2010;31(7):267-277. doi:10.1542/pir.31-7-267 (https://doi.org/10.1542/pir.31-7-267)
- Rochat P. Object manipulation and exploration in 2- to 5-month-old infants. Developmental Psychology. 1989;25(6):871-884. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.25.6.871 (https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.25.6.871)

Reviewed by Javier Atance Ibar, PhD in Education.

https://papakoala.com/en/activities/their-own-spoon/