North Carolina Early Learning and Development Progressions: Birth to Five

Domain: NC Foundations for Early Learning: Health and Physical Development (HPD)

Subdomain: Self-Care

Goal: Children develop independence in caring for themselves and their environment.

Skill Progression: Eating/drinking

Age: 36-42 Months

Click here to go to all skills for ages 36-42 Months.

Chews with grinding movement

Situations for Observation of Skill

Observe the child preparing, serving, and eating a snack or a meal.

Elicitation Strategy

The adult lets the child help prepare granola (or a similar snack), which involve pouring, stirring and scooping. The child then serves himself by pouring liquid from a small pitcher, scooping food from a plate or bowl, and eating.

Behavior Observed

The child chews hard food with a grinding movement, which is seen and heard.

Routines-based Intervention (Embedded Instruction)

Parents can provide opportunities for children to help them cook. This enables children to pour, scoop, stir, and spread materials of different consistencies. Each of these tasks requires manipulating distinct tools, using hands in different positions, and grading movements in various ways.

 North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, 2015

©2015 by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/.