Macaroni and Please: Lesson Eight

Tools of the Trade

By Lewena Bayer and Karen Mallett

When a child is three, simply getting him/her to show interest in food and eat it, even if that means using his/her hands, is good enough. Using utensils seems less important and sometimes a young child’s level of dexterity makes holding utensils difficult anyway. By age four however, teaching children to use forks and is possible and not really difficult to do. Whether a child holds a fork in exactly the right way is not so important in the beginning, the main thing is that he/she tries to hold it and practices using it and other utensils. (Maybe not knives until age five.)

Objectives:

Introduce tools of the trade; forks, spoons, knives, serving utensils.

• Explain what each utensil is used for.
• Show children how to hold and use utensils properly.
• Let children practice using utensils.

Knowledge Material:

Starts by holding up a beach shovel or other large tool/utensil and asks, “Did you ever eat your breakfast with a shovel?” Then explain how it is not good manners to eat with our fingers (and hands should be clean) so we have to learn to use our utensils properly. Display (by actual props or by images) a range of utensils – the more the better, (all types of forks, knives, cooking utensils etc) Ask your children to explain what each are for and as you come to dinner spoons, knives and forks, hand each child one and show them how to hold it. Let them practice eating something (maybe Cheezies or Cheerios).

NOTE:
This session ties in nicely to conversations about hand washing. Explain to children that we use a fork or spoon because it is polite to do so but also because it’s not a good idea to use your hands due to germs.

Practice Exercises/Activities:

Invite some friends over to share in this lesson. Have each child bring some mittens and just for fun, give each a plastic spoon or utensil and ask him/her to try using utensils. Get plastic bowls and fill with cheerios or corn flakes (dry). Let children try eating with a spatula, or egg flipper. They will have fun and laugh and then when they try using actual utensils, it might be much easier.


Have a contest where the prize is “The Golden Fork” award. Send the kids home with a chart and ask the parents to help by completing a chart or signing a note if a child uses utensils for 10 meals in a row. Get together in a couple of weeks to award the prizes.