Messy Eating

June 30, 2021

Messy eating can be frustrating for caregivers. Parents may even complain to you about their child’s messy eating or tell you that they won’t let their child feed themselves because they worry about a mess. How do you respond to caregivers about this topic?

Children can build fine motor skills and practice problem solving through self feeding!

It can be helpful to explain to caregivers that children are actually practicing cause and effect and learning what happens when they throw their food on the floor. This is part of the development of problem solving skills. And though it’s frustrating to clean, caregivers should ignore this behavior as much as possible and continue to redirect children in positive ways.

Check out the video below from the Keystones of Development curriculum to see how you can discuss messy eating with families: