Foods for a toddler to practise using a fork? 🍴

[traitorrrs]

We have the 24 month check coming up and I noticed on the questionnaire it mentions fork use so I thought we should give it a go!

Problem is I’m having a hard time thinking of what foods we could use that wouldn’t be too messy?

DD usually eats batch cooked meals in the evening (curries, chillies etc), which are quite ‘wet’… At weekends her breakfast is porridge and for lunch we’re usually out and about so not really a great time to be trialling a fork! Snack is usually fruit and yoghurt so again not really suitable.

Please share some ideas?! Thank you ☺️

Food my ds can do with a fork are:

Stabbing with a fork:
Small squares of toast + butter with baked beans
Fusilli pasta +sauce
Banana slices
Small pieces of shredded meat like chicken/pork/lamb

More like a spoon, scooping action:
rice mixed in with curry
Mushy peas
mash potato
Spaghetti hoops
Bolognese sauce
Chilli con carne etc

Gnocchi and potatoes worked for my LO.

Anything soft and stab-able works well here - pasta shapes, banana slices and bits of soft veg are our go-tos. We just accept the mess as part of the learning curve and keep a flannel handy! Good luck with the 24-month check.

Things like pasta, cooked vegetables, chunks of potato, scrambled egg or soft pieces of omelette are good for practising without being too messy. Banana or other soft fruit cut into small pieces could work too. I’d probably just pick one meal a day and let her have a go.

vegetables