Normally August plays a pretty passive role in smoothie making whilst I run around getting each ingredient as I think of it. Today I wanted to turn it into an activity so he could take part in every step, develop his independence and work on some gross motor skills!

CHOPPING
Did you know that your one year old is ready to learn how to chop?! Give them a blunt knife and something soft to provide that opportunity to learn all the gross motor skills that go with lining up a knife and placing enough force to chop!! Bananas are ideal coz they're not too small.

Watch Auggie chop them here

POSTING
Filling a blender is essentially a posting activity. Kids love posting.

EMBRACE THE MESS
You're only good at doing activities relatively mess free because your body has had lots of practice. If milk goes on the floor, who cares?! Your little one has learned something.

EXPECT NIBBLES
When your child sees food, they're used to eating it. It's a BIG ASK for them to understand they they have to put it in a blender and WAIT and they'll still get that food. You might have seen people do the marshmallow experiment?! This is the same - you'll have to allow for some ingredients going missing!

LANGUAGE
Talk them through each step and have fun together! If your little one can't SAY all of those words then they need to hear them on repeat. Talk talk talk.