{"id":17616,"date":"2020-10-06T05:00:27","date_gmt":"2020-10-06T13:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/babysparks.com\/?p=17616"},"modified":"2021-07-08T04:49:18","modified_gmt":"2021-07-08T12:49:18","slug":"spoons-forks-how-toddlers-learn-to-use-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/babysparks.com\/2020\/10\/06\/spoons-forks-how-toddlers-learn-to-use-them\/","title":{"rendered":"Spoons & Forks: How Toddlers Learn to Use Them"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ToddlerYour toddler and your kitchen are covered in puree, but you\u2019re smiling from ear to ear. This is the moment you\u2019ve been waiting for! After weeks of practice, you just observed your little one successfully grasp a spoon, scoop up their food, and place it into in their mouth. These moments are glorious, messy victories for parents and big steps towards independence for toddlers.<\/p>\n

Self-feeding is one of the many ways your child shows they\u2019re learning to do things on their own. Your toddler may be 2 before they can actually get food from their plate into their mouth, but long before that, they\u2019re building the foundational skills for using utensils<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Highlights:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n
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  • Using utensils is one of the many ways children begin to show their independence.<\/li>\n
  • The building blocks of self-feeding include fine motor skills, gross motor skills, and cognitive skills:\n
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    • Fine Motor Skills<\/strong>: Children learn to use utensils through coordinating their hands and eyes, like learning to grasp a spoon and raise it to their mouths with precision.<\/li>\n
    • Gross Motor Skills<\/strong>: Self-feeding involves building enough strength in their trunk to sit at a table, and enough coordination in their arms to eat.<\/li>\n
    • Cognitive Skills<\/strong>: A lot of thinking goes into learning to self-feed! Cognitive milestones, like being able to focus on a task and learning to problem-solve through trial and error, help toddlers learn to eat independently.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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Fine Motor Skills<\/strong>The Building Blocks of Utensil Use<\/h2>\n

Before your little one can eat with a utensil, they need some practice strengthening and coordinating their hands and eyes. Here\u2019s what this looks like from birth. Remember that milestones are based on averages, so your child may not follow this timeline exactly.<\/p>\n