Guest Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 Hi, Just opened for our first day as a new pre-school. Everyone still alive by end of day-hurray! We tried a 'help yourself' snack bar which was a new experience for all of us staff. We are hoping that we do not have to have a member of staff running the snack bar for half an hour and that it would be self-running. Our only real issue is a hygiene one. How do you ensure that children wash their hands before having their snack with this method? We saw children going straight from the playdough table to the snack bar!!! Any top tips? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fizzy Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 (edited) sorry, we have a member of staff running ours. Its open for all of free play, and the member of staff helps in reminding children to wash hand, put their dirty cups and bowls away (so other children cant come and drink them) and just to encourage chat about healthy eating Congratulations on your first day Edited September 3, 2009 by fizzy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 Yes we have a member of staff running ours don't think it would work without. Think of it as an activity which its is and a very important one for children to master, that way you don't feel as though you are loosing a member of staff. lol Steph Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 We have a member of staff overlooking the area to ensure hands are washed too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dublinbay Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 Congratulations on a successful first day....well done! Our snack bar is open throughout the 3-hour session. This term with so many new starters usually means a member of staff will be there to support the newbies. We usually do a circle-time activity, role playing the sequence of the children finding their name card, washing hands and self-selecting a drink and food. Healthy eating and the importance of hand washing is usually discussed here too. The older children are good at reminding new ones that they are only allowed 1 biscuit and are equally adept at telling on a child who is hogging all the strawberries!! We do this until a basic routine is adopted by all the children and then leave it up to them. We do keep an eye on things every now and then and its nice to sit and chat too. Hope your new pre-school continues to flourish! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynned55 Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 we have a pump dispenser that has foam hand washing stuff in it for the children to use. As dublinbay does, we will start off the year with a staff member allocated to the snack bar - we do have a rolling one, but for the first few weeks in Sept and depending on how much support the new children need, we will probably only have it open for an hour or so. By the time we get to Xmas though, pretty much all of te children know what to do and how to do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 Our snack bar is open for an hour and we always have a member of staff sitting at the table with the chldreen. He/she has a bottle of foam soap, so the children come to get their soap and she squirts it onto their hands and then they go to wash if off - that way we know their hands should have been somewhere near water. The children are then very independent in the practicalities of helping themselves etc. The staff member is there chiefly because we feel it is a brilliant opportunity for language and PSED development, and so consider it to be one of the key activities. For all the areas of continuous provision we have A4 sheets displayed listing the apects of development that children are most likely to develop through that activity. The snack bar also has one of these. Good luck with your new venture Gruffalo2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 4, 2009 Share Posted September 4, 2009 Congrats on your first successful day Our snack bar is supervised by an adult througout ensuring hygiene etc but it is also a very good opportunity to do obs, photos etc for their learing journals, they can learn so much from this activity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.