Tips for teaching spoon/fork use?

[~*Nicole*~]

DD has used a spoon and fork a couple of times. A fork is a bit easier as the food stays on for her while she maneuvers to her mouth...the spoon....she usually always loses the food and it ends up in her lap and she doesn't get enough into her. I end up feeding her or she uses her hands...which I don't particularly mind. Recently she's been just holding the spoon or fork, which she wants and asks for....but uses her other hand to eat. She holds the utensils in her right hand and eats the food with her left hand. She'll sort of swirl the utensils around and stick it into the food, etc. but hasn't been trying to get the food onto them and to her mouth as much anymore. BUT she does want to feed herself usually and will resist me feeding her. She will ask for me to give her my spoon or fork if I don't give her her own so I know she WANTS to feed herself.

Is this basically a just ... keep offering, she'll get there eventually type thing?

She is also not great with crayons has a hard time maneuvering to get a small line and then gives up and just eats them----maybe she just isn't as coordinated with fine motor things??

[huntersmummyinoz]

the spoon....she usually always loses the food and it ends up in her lap and she doesn't get enough into her

i used to make hunter's cereal etc more solid than usual when he started wanting to use a spoon so that it would be thick enuf to stick to the spoon and generally would hang on even if turned upside down, also used fromage frais instead of yoghurt for a while as it was thicker and stuck to the spoon. then after he was happily doing that i would 'help' him with the spoon and show him how to scoop it up and then helped him guide the spoon into his mouth the right way up, after a while he was fine on his own. use fav foods wherever you can as this really helped him catch on quickly.

the fork, i showed him how a couple of times and then would ask him if he could get a carrot/potato whatever on his fork. at first i found it worked better to just give him a couple of pieces on his tray to try and stab as the whole plate was a little overwhelming.

crayons, just a thought, hunter found them hard to start with until i switched to a different type of crayon. got the 'stubbie' crayons from Early Learning Centre, really soft so draw easily without needing as much pressure and are quite chubbie so he could get a good grip on them.

other than that, keep practising and really praise whenever she does use it

[mum101]

I think they get the hang of it all themselves mostly. Both mine ate with their fingers, they wanted to feed themselves but weren't able to keep much on the cutlery to get to their mouths. 'Play' is all part of the learning, give her some cutlery and don't watch where the food ends up! 

[~*Nicole*~]

mum101-LOL on the don't watch where the food ends up! Thank goodness for our dogs hehee.

Kirry-She hasn't liked the baby cereals or oatmeals in awhile. I don't know if they're too bland or if it's the texture (as she doesn't like mashed potatoes and generally passes up on yogurt as well) but I haven't tried it in awhile so maybe I'll give it a go since letting HER feed it to herself may be all the incentive she needs. Will try for a snack tonight and see how that goes.

Also, I think I will look for some easier to grip crayons. I have some wider ones at school but they take the usual amount of pressure.


I guess I just feel badly for her as she seems to want to and then seems to get frustrated and just uses her hands as it's easier. Will keep letting her try

[huntersmummyinoz]

hunter was on 'adult' cereals by then, mostly porridge, weetbix, muesli, etc. also found it helped to add things to the cereal (blueberries, dried fruit like chopped apricots or sultanas, etc etc) to make it seem a little more interesting.

also, she is still quite young so i wouldnt worry too much. hunter, so i am told, was using cuttlery really early but his fine motor and language skills seem to be better as he was a late walker (well that's my theory anyway!). a new cuttlery set with fav characters can really spark their interest too

[~*Nicole*~]

Kirry-I have a similar theory. DD's language and gross motor skills (walking etc.) seemed to be better so I figured she was lagging in fine motor skills a bit by comparison LOL Glad you mentioned about the cuttlery set with characters as she is starting to be REALLY INTO Sesame Street and Elmo of course is her fav. Might be worth a purchase.

[mmom]

I was also interested this because my LO loves holding a fork/spoon while eating, but really can't use them yet.  He actually gets frustrated when I try to show him and then when he can't get it himself.  What age are they supposed to be using utensils on their own?

[huntersmummyinoz]

sorry kara i have no idea of when they are 'meant' to be able to as hunter was spoon acurately at around 10mths (was attempting from around 7mths) and was using a fork for big pieces from 12mths. i now have the problem that he is choosing not to use them despite being totally capable

nicole, could be a good stocking filler. think i might try that again for hunter to try and get him using them again - wonder if i can find a Cars/Lightning McQueen set...

[~*Nicole*~]

google it!!