New research suggests telling your child not to play with their food could actually be inhibiting their learning.
Toddlers have an easier time identifying solid objects than gooey ones such as oatmeal or mashed potatoes, a University of Iowa news release reported.
The researchers observed a group of 16-month-old toddlers, and determined allowing children to play with their food in a familiar environment could boost leaning.
"[Toddlers are] used to seeing nonsolid things in this context, when they're eating," Larissa Samuelson, associate professor in psychology at the UI who specializes in how children associate words with objects, said. "And, if you expose them to these things when they're in a highchair, they do better. They're familiar with the setting and that helps them remember and use what they already know about nonsolids."
The researchers exposed the study subjects to 14 nonsolid objects including: "applesauce, pudding, juice, and soup." The team gave the food items pretend names such as "dax" and "kiv." One minute later the researchers asked the children to determine the same object in a different size or shape.
The experiment required the children to look at more than just shape and size, and to actually gain an understanding of the innate qualities of the item.
The children explored the food by "poking, prodding, touching, feeling, eating-and yes, throwing," the news release reported. This allowed them to gain a deeper understanding of what the item was made out of and associate it with a word.
The children that interacted with (played with) their food the most were also most likely to correctly identify their made up name. The team compared the phenomenon to a child staring at a cup of glue and a cup of milk. How could they distinguish between the two without getting their hands a little bit dirty?
"It's the material that makes many nonsolids and how children name them," Samuelson said.
Children who were seated in familiar high-chairs were found to be more likely to make correct identifications than those sitting at a table or in another environment.
"It turns out that being in a high chair makes it more likely you'll get messy, because kids know they can get messy there," Samuelson said.
The researchers believe the study also demonstrates the effect of environment on a child's learning.
"It may look like your child is playing in the high chair, throwing things on the ground, and they may be doing that, but they are getting information out of (those actions)," she said, "And, it turns out, they can use that information later. That's what the high chair did. Playing with these foods there actually helped these children in the lab, and they learned the names better. It's not about words you know, but words you're going to learn."
