Why Playing with Food Matters: Building Skills in Baby’s First Year

Were you told not to play with your food as a kid? Thought it may be a helpful rule for toddlers, babies need to “play” with their food. Eating play is a great way for babies to explore new foods and strengthen their fine motor skills. With a few simple tools and your presence guidance, eating play can become a new part of your daily rhythm.

Is Your Child Ready?

Eating play is a supervised play period where your baby explores food and utensils in a supported chair. A lot of babies start eating food around 6 months of age. Your child is likely ready to start eating food if they are mouthing toys without gagging, showing an interest in your food, and independently sitting. Your baby’s pediatrician is a great resource to help confirm readiness and guide you with an approach. Regardless of what you choose, these early sessions are really about exploring textures, tastes, and tools while strengthening small muscle movements.

Favorite Tools:

• Small handled spoons

• Suction cup bowl

• Peas!

• Small open cup

What Should You Do?

• Give your baby a spoon and let them explore it–they’ll likely just chew it. You can eat with a spoon to model.

• Place a spoon and a bowl on your child’s tray and let them play. 

• Give your baby a spoon and some applesauce or yogurt (whatever puree you feel comfortable with) in a bowl. 

• Spread some banana, avocado, or oatmeal and let your child smear it around. Talk about what it feels like. 

• Offer a small open cup with a little bit of water. Model drinking from an open cup. 

• Give your baby small, soft finger foods like peas and let them practice picking them up. You can also offer a bowl to let them put them in. 

Typically Babies Can:

• Use fingers as a rake to move and pick up objects by 6-9 months

• Pick up small objects with pointer finger and thumb (like small bits of food) by 9-12 monts

• Put small objects in a larger container by 9-12 months

• Drink from a cub without a lid held by an adult by 9-12 months

Eating can be a bit of a mess—but it’s also meaningful learning. As your baby explores new textures, tastes, and tools, they are developing coordination, control, independence, and cultivating curiosity one bite at a time. Offering the opportunity and time to explore, will help grow healthy habits, meal-time connection, and the fine motor skills they will need for writing later down the road.