My routinesExperiment · 12–18 months

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.

In the app, one activity a day for their age →

What do I need?

• Spoon
• Medium bowl with food

How do I do it?

1. 01

   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. 02

   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. 03

   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. 04

   Finish without rushing

   Clear the table when they lose interest or start playing with the food. Try again at another meal.

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

1. Eye-hand teamwork in newborn babies

   von Hofsten · 1982

2. Motor milestones: what little ones learn to do with hands and body

   Gerber et al. · 2010

See all 4 references

1. von Hofsten C. Eye-hand coordination in the newborn. Developmental Psychology. 1982;18(3):450-461. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.18.3.450 doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.18.3.450
2. 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 doi.org/10.1016/j.infbeh.2010.07.007
3. 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 doi.org/10.1542/pir.31-7-267
4. 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 doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.25.6.871

Reviewed by Javier Atance Ibar, PhD in Education