Self-Feeding with a Spoon
A heavy bowl, thick oatmeal, and a spoon that finally makes it to its target.
Self-Feeding with a Spoon is a Montessori activity for a child aged 12 to 18 months. Area: Practical Life. Time: 10-15 min.
What the activity builds
Carry food to their own mouth, a foundational move toward independence, and accept that some of it lands elsewhere.
The materials
- A heavy, low bowl that won't slide around
- A small spoon with a short, wide handle
- Thick oatmeal or mashed sweet potato, thick enough to stay on the spoon
- A wide bib and a floor that's easy to wipe clean
How to do it, step by step
- Settle your child with feet supported and the bowl right in front of them.
- Dip the spoon, fill it, and carry it slowly to your own mouth, just once.
- Set the spoon back down near their hand and wait.
- Let them do it their own way, fingers and all: the hand leads, the spoon follows.
- Finish by handing over a washcloth to wipe their tray, that's part of the meal too.
The parent's role
Show once, then step back. Don't guide their hand, and don't chase the spoon on its way up. Thick food is the control of error: it stays put when the spoon is level and slides off when it tilts, with nothing for you to say about it.
Safety
Stay seated right beside them for the whole meal. Round, hard foods like whole grapes, cherry tomatoes, or raw carrot chunks are choking hazards: cut them lengthwise. No meal ever goes unsupervised, and never while walking.
You remain the sole judge of what is right for your child. These activities are offered for educational and recreational purposes: they do not replace medical advice or the guidance of an early childhood professional.
Ways to adapt the activity
- Easier: you fill the spoon, they carry it to their mouth.
- Harder: yogurt, which is thinner and asks for a steadier hand.
- Extension: a small fork with rounded tips for spearing soft pieces.
Up next
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