Just Out of Reach

What you need

• their cup
• their spoon
• their plate

How to do it

1. Set their plate down as usual, but keep the cup and spoon at your end of the table.
2. Sit down and start your own food.
3. When they point at the cup or the spoon, name it and pass it over.
4. Do the same with the next thing they need.

Why it matters

Mealtimes are full of things a toddler definitely wants, arriving one after another, which makes them the most repeatable place in the day to practise asking.

What they're learning

Asking with a gesture

Pointing at the cup is quicker than crying for it, and it works, which is the lesson.

Naming what they want

Hearing 'cup' at the exact second they want it is the best chance that word has of landing.

Eating together

Sitting down to eat alongside them is what turns a meal into a conversation.

What to look for

Watch for the point arriving before the grizzle rather than after it.

A tip

Never hold back a drink to make them ask. Pass it the moment they ask in any way at all, and if they're thirsty, just pass it.

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