Philosophy

Practical Life Manual: Infant and Toddler

TRANSFER: THREE-FINGER GRASP
8. SPOONING
Materials:
Double bowl dog dish or two medium-sized plastic bowls
Six to nine lima beans in the bowl on the left
One short-handled teaspoon placed in the front center of the tray
One tray
Presentation:
1. Carry the activity with two hands to the table.
2. Place the activity in the center of the table with the bean bowl on the left.
3. Invite the child to sit on your left if appropriate. Sometimes clarity and focus is
better achieved with a ‘body molding’ approach: the adult places her chest to
the child’s back with the adult’s arms coming around the outside of the child’s
arms to guide the child in the activity.
4. Say, “This is a spoon. I will show you how to use a spoon.”
5. Grasp the spoon with the thumb, index, and middle fingers of the dominant
hand, positioning the spoon properly. Emphasize the grip.
6. Dip the spoon into the plastic bowl on the left containing the six to nine lima
beans.
7. Fill the spoon with the lima beans.
8. Raise the spoon above the center of the plastic bowl.
9. Pause to allow any loose lima beans to fall back into the plastic bowl.
10. Move the spoon over to the center of the right plastic bowl.
11. Lower the spoon so that it is comfortably close to the bottom of the plastic
bowl.
12. Turn the spoon over, emptying the lima beans into the plastic bowl.

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Practical Life Manual: Infant and Toddler

13. Turn the spoon back to its upright position.
14. Raise the spoon over the center of the bowl.
15. Move the spoon over to the center of the left plastic bowl.
16. Continue the above transfer procedure with the remaining lima beans.
17. Look into the left bowl to see that it is empty of lima beans.
18. Transfer the lima beans back to the original plastic bowl to the left using the
same procedure.
19. Place the spoon in its original position on the tray.
20. Look at the...