During COVID child care we made changes to our traditional care rituals - especially those around meals. To minimize teacher prep time, reduce high touch surfaces, and increase sanitation around meals we stopped doing our family style snacks and asked families to send in brown paper bag snacks and water bottles each morning. I really miss our family style shared morning snacks and I am looking forward to getting back to it. I just found these sweet vintage jelly jar glasses and can't wait to see them in the hands of children.
It is good to teach children to drink from a an open cup quite early. Teachers report that more and more children are delayed in drinking from a cup because of our water bottle and sippy-cup culture. Drinking from a cup supports oral motor skills and ushers in the ease and mastery of other important tools - such as getting the spoon or fork to the lips.
Children are still learning how to control hand gradation from firm to gentle grasps and they will crumble plastic or paper cups with their small fists. Small metal or plastic cups are better for giving the child the firm feedback to support learning this new skills - and there's nothing quite as pleasing as drinking from glass.
Drinking from an open glass or cup is different than drinking from a sippy or a water bottle. Young children who drink from sippy-cups habitualize throwing their heads back to allow liquid to flow, while drinking from a cup actually requires the skill of holding the head relatively level while the hand and head work together to coordinate just the right flow of liquid into the mouth.
To think of care as an art, invites us to place attention on the materials of care, and meals offer such rich possibilities. When we value care, we find luxury in the simplicity of every day items. The art of care need not be flowery or decorative - the sophistication of real objects shows an honest respect for care that can elevate routines to educational experiences. We can see the beauty in the authenticity of daily living and witness the miracle of the mundane as the child learns to tip a cup and take a drink.
It is good to teach children to drink from a an open cup quite early. Teachers report that more and more children are delayed in drinking from a cup because of our water bottle and sippy-cup culture. Drinking from a cup supports oral motor skills and ushers in the ease and mastery of other important tools - such as getting the spoon or fork to the lips.
Children are still learning how to control hand gradation from firm to gentle grasps and they will crumble plastic or paper cups with their small fists. Small metal or plastic cups are better for giving the child the firm feedback to support learning this new skills - and there's nothing quite as pleasing as drinking from glass.
Drinking from an open glass or cup is different than drinking from a sippy or a water bottle. Young children who drink from sippy-cups habitualize throwing their heads back to allow liquid to flow, while drinking from a cup actually requires the skill of holding the head relatively level while the hand and head work together to coordinate just the right flow of liquid into the mouth.
To think of care as an art, invites us to place attention on the materials of care, and meals offer such rich possibilities. When we value care, we find luxury in the simplicity of every day items. The art of care need not be flowery or decorative - the sophistication of real objects shows an honest respect for care that can elevate routines to educational experiences. We can see the beauty in the authenticity of daily living and witness the miracle of the mundane as the child learns to tip a cup and take a drink.
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