My post on selecting great utensils has generated buzz with my clients. When I mentioned in therapy sessions that every time a preschooler uses a fork or spoon with a mature grasp, they are building the strength and control needed for good handwriting, parent’s jaws hit the floor. It never occurred to them that there is a connection. Time to explain.
A bit of history: there was a time when preschoolers used utensils early during meals. Perhaps as recently as 35 years ago, it was a land free of meats in nugget form and al dente vegetables with dipping sauces. Forks and spoons were used for every meal, and fingers were rarely used for many breakfast and dinner foods. “Table manners” were taught, and they included how to use utensils.
Life is now more casual and lived at a faster pace. We eat in our cars, while talking on the phone, and our kids sometimes don’t even want to sit to eat. They circle back to the table to have us pop a morsel into their mouth before going back to play. Lifestyles have changed, but the need for finger dexterity and strength has not changed one bit. If you have a 4 year-old who avoids coloring, has no interest in writing, and doesn’t want to use utensils, you have a child that can lag behind his peers in handwriting due to lack of fine motor skills. He has missed out on years of useful fine motor practice that his teachers expect to capitalize on at 4.5 and up for handwriting instruction. Teachers do not expect to do remediation for fine motor delays, they want to teach. Since kids lose opportunities for fine motor development while they use tablets and push-button toys, utensil skills are a practical way to support good early fine motor skills.
The wrist control, finger isolation and grading of movement and force that goes into holding a utensil in a mature pattern (thumb on top, fingers in a gentle curved arc under the handle shaft, end of the handle visible resting on the large knuckle of the index finger) is a great way to develop those pre-writing skills. Stabilizing the plate or bowl while eating develops into “helper hand” stabilization of paper while writing. Scooping, piercing food with a fork, and even beginning cutting with a bread knife improve bilateral control and the ability to coordinate eye-hand control with accuracy, speed and endurance. A lot of skill goes into feeding yourself a bowl of cereal or a plate of pasta. Is your child still feeding herself only with her fingers? That is a 12-month skill, my friends. Time to raise her game.
My previous post Which Spoon Is Best To Teach Grown-Up Grasp?showed you a great handle style that has kid-friendly characters and is well-designed for easier grip and independent placement. If you have to keep helping your child put their fingers in the right spot, it isn’t independence. Take a look at that post for fun ways to build skills without your child even catching on that they are practicing!
UPDATE: One of my almost-4’s has been using these utensils for 2 weeks. He has not been able to put a crayon in his hand correctly all year, no matter how much we practice, demonstrate or reward. Yesterday we played a game with my spoon, and he handled it perfectly. Then it was time to use the iPad stylus for a pre-writing game. I placed the stylus on the floor and turned my back to set up the app. I turned around and he asked “Did I get it right?” His fingers were in a perfect tripod position, ready to go!!!!
