He wants to wipe himself off, zip up, lace up, reach for the locker behind the toy. You are very "For" in all his endeavors, but when it comes to eating, here you look at all this with apprehension and skepticism. On the one hand, you would like, of course, that he already ate, but on the other hand, it's dirty clothes and not only him, but yours, a dirty table, a lot of strength, patience and time, which is already lacking, yes even then add extra washing and dressing, which again is time. But nevertheless, it's worth spending your time on it, and teaching the child how to properly use cutlery, so that later it's not a shame that they let this process go by its own accord. This is not so difficult, the main thing is to approach it easily and in a timely manner. Watch the child, he will tell you his behavior when it's time and it's time to start training.
Approximately to 7-8 months the child begins to show independence during a meal: he grabs a spoon, a cup, a glass. This should be encouraged and directed. How to teach a child to eat with a spoon and other appliances? If you buy a beautiful cutlery for a child, you do not have to force a spoon into his clenched fists, he will grab her first, only show how to properly hold it and how to use it properly so that it does not get dirty and the food gets exactly what it was intended for. To begin with, the child is given a teaspoon in his hand and shows how to fill it with porridge. While the kid understands this task, while still so difficult for him, you can help him in coordination and at the same time to feed him with a second spoon. First, the child uses a spoon to hold it in the cam, and closer to two years, it is necessary to show how to properly hold the spoon and watch that it takes it just below the wide part with three fingers. It is important to remember that from a spoon eat, by bringing it sideways to the mouth, not thrusting into the mouth completely and completely, and do not be careful, trying only to grasp the edge. Here the golden mean is important. Remember that a child learns the world through you, so a lot of monkeys, just show him an example. When a child learns to eat porridge himself, he can give himself to eat soup. It is important to remember that the first dishes are scooped up with a spoon, not toward yourself, but from yourself.
The second test for him and for you will be a fork. For him, this is not only a new and complicated device, but everything else is still unknown, so in your task to add one more: to make sure that the child does not hurt himself. To the fork of the child begin to accustom somewhere from 3 years precisely for this reason, to understand the danger. It is better to buy a baby a small and not very sharp fork. Show and tell that depending on what kind of food, you eat, depending on it, how to hold the fork. What if this meat is denticles down and pinched at an angle to the plane of the plate, so that the fork does not slip and the contents of the plate do not splash onto the table. If it's porridge or mashed potatoes, you need a fork to help a piece of bread, as if pushing food on the fork. There are dishes that you need to pre-cut before you can eat conveniently. It must be ensured that the child does not try to replace the knife with a fork. If the omelette can still be divided with a fork and it will be beautifully aesthetic and without prejudice, then with a piece of meat it will not be possible to do so already. Therefore, it is necessary to teach the child and to the knife. The only BUT, this is that at the same time you will have to teach the child to use the fork with his left hand and simultaneously with the knife. Look carefully so that the fork and knife hold the child at an angle, so that the fork holds food and does not hurry. The main thing is to get it, and from what time it does not matter. Make learning a fun pastime. In turn, cut off a piece and see who it is better to get (of course, you should praise, but do not do it wrong, because your goal is to teach, not to amuse pride). If the child is naughty because he does not get it and therefore asks you to do it, go for the trick, get distracted urgently on something or help him with your hands on top of it, and the next piece, he's already inspired, will start trying to cut himself .
At the end of the meal, teach the child to put dirty instruments on a plate, not on a tablecloth. And in general, accustom it from childhood to the fact that the absorption of food is not just a way not to remain hungry, but a ritual that can bring not only physiological, but also aesthetic pleasure. After all, it's much more pleasant to look at a person who culturally absorbs food than on a "man-pig" who absorbs food with his hands and is all smeared in it.
Eat on health, right and teach this to your little ones, because now you know how to teach your child to eat from a spoon and other cutlery.