Stir the Pan

What you need

• a cold saucepan
• a wooden spoon
• a little water
• a tea towel to stand the pan on

How to do it

1. Sit on the kitchen floor with a cold saucepan on a folded tea towel between you.
2. Pour in a little water, just enough to cover the bottom.
3. Stir it with the wooden spoon and say 'stir, stir, stir'.
4. Hand them the spoon and let them stir, tap and splash. Pretend to taste from the spoon: 'Mmm, soup!'

Why it matters

Stirring a pan is something they watch you do all the time, and doing it themselves with real things is the best kind of copying.

What they're learning

Stirring

A round-and-round arm, with the spoon held in a fist.

Copying

Doing a job they've watched you do.

Early pretend

Water in a pan becomes soup.

What to look for

Notice them lifting the spoon towards your mouth or theirs to 'taste'.

A tip

Only a cold saucepan from the cupboard, just enough water to cover the bottom, and you within arm's reach the whole time. Tip the water away as soon as you finish.

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