Guest Posted August 22, 2007 Posted August 22, 2007 I do see the advanatages of not disrupting a child from an activity they are involved in for a set snack time but I do also have my doubts about a snack bar system. In this day and age where people graze continuously and do not sit down for familiy meals together is it not a good opportunity at nursery to come together and have a set snack time and a time to socilaise and develop healthy food habits?
hali Posted August 22, 2007 Posted August 22, 2007 have to say i tend to agree Karen... we all sit together and have a good natter, will not change it umless the big 'O' say i need too
HappyMaz Posted August 22, 2007 Posted August 22, 2007 have to say i tend to agree Karen... we all sit together and have a good natter, will not change it umless the big 'O' say i need too Big 'O@? I thought Roy Orbison was dead... Maz PS Mrs Ofsted loved our snacktime - did I mention this? One of the few positive points in our inspection report
HappyMaz Posted August 22, 2007 Posted August 22, 2007 Big 'O@? But obviously she didn't inspect my typing!
Beau Posted August 22, 2007 Posted August 22, 2007 We started a snack bar last term due to rising numbers and only one useful sink to wash hands in! We were all a little doubtful at first but it has been a huge hit with everyone. Somehow the day is much more relaxed without the mammoth 'snack time' in the middle of the session.
Guest Posted September 28, 2007 Posted September 28, 2007 (edited) Hello everyone!Does anyone know of any official policy that say that children should NOT eat snack directly from the table? Just something I am trying to find out about! Anyone offer any suggestions? Matt I dont know of any policy but ... I make up placemats for the children in my playgroup,on A4 card that has their names in lower case .I use but good hand writing works just as well.These are then laminated for easy cleaning,great for name recognition,and go home with the child when they leave at the end of the year.They can be embelished with what ever you want.A snack time pic or something relating to a theme(If you want name recognition though make sure all pics are the same)or just left plain with only their names.Great also to have a place mat helper to dish them out with thankyou's all the way.We can eat most snack type foods of the mats but also use bowls that go on top of the mats if we need to.Once they are cleaned we peg them up on a washing line indoors to dry.the children quickly get used to them and soon recognise their names.I make the letters big enough so they can trace their names over the top with their fingers.This is my first post I love this site Edited September 28, 2007 by Guest
dublinbay Posted September 28, 2007 Posted September 28, 2007 Hello and welcome to the forum Kerryberry. Yes this is a great site isn't it! I like your use of placemats for children at snack bar. We don't actually use anything unless toast is on the menu and the children are buttering (margarine) it themselves. I am trying to persuade management to at least use plates but I think individual placements would be a lot more fun. Thanks for that and enjoy the forum!!
Guest Wolfie Posted September 28, 2007 Posted September 28, 2007 Welcome from me too, Kerryberry -what a great name!
shazzam Posted September 28, 2007 Posted September 28, 2007 welcome x i love your idea of placemats! the children can get involved with making them or put photos in! good for storage too, something we have little of
Guest Posted September 29, 2007 Posted September 29, 2007 We also use placemats which are laminated with pictures the children have drawn themselves and their name on. It really seems to help them recognise their own mat and hopefully in time their name. Sally
Guest Posted September 29, 2007 Posted September 29, 2007 Peggy - where did you get your table cover from - the blue multiculture one - have seen them before but noone can remember where they got it from Hope youre well Nikki
DavidW Posted September 29, 2007 Posted September 29, 2007 Not quite sure what you would call our snack time.We ring an old fashioned hand bell to show the snack table is open and then children can come to it as they wish,after findind their name card- but it is manned so that staff can keep up conversations and they do remind groups of children that the table is only open for a limited time and make sure that every one at least has a drink.From time to time we do have a whole group snack-if the book bus is coming,we have a Birthday to celebrate etc.It works for us
Guest Posted October 2, 2007 Posted October 2, 2007 Hello and welcome to the forum Kerryberry. Yes this is a great site isn't it! I like your use of placemats for children at snack bar. We don't actually use anything unless toast is on the menu and the children are buttering (margarine) it themselves. I am trying to persuade management to at least use plates but I think individual placements would be a lot more fun. Thanks for that and enjoy the forum!! Hi Dublinbay so glad you like the idea ive tried to upload some things iput on reverse of mat im not very IT savy hope it works shapes.bmp(you have to colour in the gold and silver bits).or you can choose something for each season or hand prints. so nice to chat thankyou
Guest Posted October 2, 2007 Posted October 2, 2007 Welcome from me too, Kerryberry -what a great name! Hi and thanks for the welcome Wolfie kerryberry
Guest Posted October 2, 2007 Posted October 2, 2007 welcome xi love your idea of placemats! the children can get involved with making them or put photos in! good for storage too, something we have little of Hi shazzam,Thank you for the welcome glad you like the idea,hope you and the children have lots of fun making them Thankyou kerryberry
dublinbay Posted October 3, 2007 Posted October 3, 2007 Well done Kerryberry, the pictures for the reverse of the placemats did work and are super! I particularly like the fruit one and the tree too. We use oil-cloth tablecloth and change it regularly to suit themes and topics. We have one with fruit, sunflowers, pasta and vegetables. Your fruit placemats would fit right in here. Now to persuade management!!!!! Thanks so much.
Guest Posted October 4, 2007 Posted October 4, 2007 Well done Kerryberry, the pictures for the reverse of the placemats did work and are super!I particularly like the fruit one and the tree too. We use oil-cloth tablecloth and change it regularly to suit themes and topics. We have one with fruit, sunflowers, pasta and vegetables. Your fruit placemats would fit right in here. Now to persuade management!!!!! Thanks so much. I love the idea of using themed table clothes,what a brill idea,will give that a try
Guest Posted October 4, 2007 Posted October 4, 2007 I love the idea of using themed table clothes,what a brill idea,will give that a try I mean tablecloths.....lol I'm so dizzt yoday
SueJ Posted October 7, 2007 Posted October 7, 2007 Hi We used to use trays with several compartments to offer a variety of different fruit and veg bits. The tables were all cleaned before snack break with an appropriate sanitiser and children selected one item at a time from the trays. However we undertook our LA Healthy Early Years accreditation (Bournemouth) who "commented" on our lack of plates although they didn't make it an action item. We are also nearing the end of the PSLA's Quality Standards scheme who insisted that plates be used as part of our stage 1 accreditation - making it an action item. We now have plastic plates for the children (optimising the counting opportunities presented!!!!!!! for Ofsted if no one else 'cos of course we don't do counting anywhere else!!!!) and the children now take items from the main tray and put them on their plates. As a rule it's not too bad - have to be firm about no plates on the head! and now need to encourage children not to take all the banana or whatever and put it on their plate before anyone else gets a look in. Being sessional with a tight pack away time - the additonal washing up is a right pain!!! Hey ho! As far as policy is concerned we do mention what we provide and also what we don't e.g. grapes and cherry tomatoes because of the choking hazzard.
Guest Posted November 3, 2007 Posted November 3, 2007 er nope!!Our snack bar is used as an example for other settings by the early years team and i have never been asked for such a policy or even thought about it!!! hi Lesley I realise this post I'm replying to was ages ago! however...I have just changed to fruit time routine to a fruit bar and as you have a system that is used as an example I wondered if you minded sharing it with me to see how far off I am or not as the case may be! thanks natty
oakley40 Posted March 27, 2008 Posted March 27, 2008 Hi , Im new to all of this, but at our setting we have a rolling snack bar, where the children come when ready or a space available. They are served a drink in a beaker then they take their chosen food items and place them on a laminated food mat. There are changed each half term and are pictures and words linked to our themes laminated in A4 pouches. When they child is finished the mat is cleaned with anti-bac ready for the next child. We dont have a snack policy.......
Guest Posted March 27, 2008 Posted March 27, 2008 Hello Oakley40, thought you'd sneak in on a past topic eh?, well I spotted you, so thanks for your first post, it's never too late to add to past topics as it brings them to the forefront for newer members who may have missed it. So, didn't get past me so I'll take this opportunity to say a warm welcome to the forum, hope you are enjoying it so far. Peggy
dublinbay Posted March 28, 2008 Posted March 28, 2008 And a warm welcome from me too Oakley40. Enjoy the forum.
Buttercup Posted April 5, 2008 Posted April 5, 2008 Hi , Im new to all of this, but at our setting we have a rolling snack bar, where the children come when ready or a space available. They are served a drink in a beaker then they take their chosen food items and place them on a laminated food mat. There are changed each half term and are pictures and words linked to our themes laminated in A4 pouches. When they child is finished the mat is cleaned with anti-bac ready for the next child. We dont have a snack policy....... our mats have their name on so helps with name recognition. we velcro them to the wall so can easlily see who has not had their snack angela
Guest Posted April 5, 2008 Posted April 5, 2008 Hi, We have self-service snack where the children choose food and put it on a plate, take it to a table for four and then get a beaker and pour either milk or water from jugs on the table. We were recently visited by our advisor and told not to use serviettes, kitchen roll or anything other than plates. We have since purchased more small plates! Lesley
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