Since we are going to Champaign this weekend, and it's a 3 hour drive, I wanted Sydney to be able to eat a snack in the car without making a mess. So I bought her some snack cups like this: http://www.amazon.com/Munchkin-Snack-Ca ... B000GB0NZK They are just plastic cups with flexible plastic "petals" covering them. It's easy to reach through the petals to get the snack, but they won't spill if you turn them upside down. Perfect for an 11.5 month old!
But I had to teach her how to use them. Snack cup usage is a very important skill! I filled one with her favorite snack, Gerber Puffs, and sat down with her on the floor for the lesson. First, I put my hand into the cup and showed her how I could pull out a puff. Then I held the cup out to her. She took it from me and tried to take a drink out of it. In her defense, it does look a lot like a sippy cup. Then she turned it upside down and tried to get at the puffs through the bottom.
I took the cup back and demonstrated again. She just looked at me expectantly. I held the petals to the side, giving her a straight shot at the puffs. This time, she successfully reached into the cup and retrieved a puff! I cheered her on. We did that several times. Then I held the cup out to her and encouraged her to reach into it without me holding the petals to the side. She took the cup away from me, and then handed it back to me, as if to say, "OK Mom, I'm ready for another puff. Hold the petals, please!"
Eventually, I got her to reach into the cup with me holding only one petal to the side, and finally without holding any petals. She did it several times while I was holding the cup. Then I explained to her that she needed to learn to do it without me holding the cup so that she could eat in the car. I set the cup down on the floor. She picked it up and handed it back to me.
Finally, I encouraged her to put her hand through the petals when the cup was sitting on the floor.....and of course her hand got stuck. She flailed around with the cup stuck on her fist. Finally, she managed to pull her hand out, but there wasn't a puff in her hand anymore. So we started over.
Eventually, she got it. I'm guessing that the entire process of acquiring this skill took less than 15 minutes, but it was a frustrating 15 minutes!