Water /snacks

[Guest]

Hi, I am wondering how other settings manage to have water available at all times for children. ie self service and also snacks. How does water not get spilled? How does this work when you have lots of 2 year olds. Any advise much appreciated.

 

Happy New Year :-)

[Upsy Daisy]

As a childminder I wouldn't consider allowing a 2 year old to pour water wherever they wanted. I provide lidded cups or sports bottles with children's names on which they get to recognised as their own early on.

[HappyMaz]

Well it does depend on how many two year olds you have. We've never had that many so it has never been that much of a problem.

 

In the past we've had water dispensers or jugs of water available throughout the session, so that water is freely available. With some of the very small two year olds we just supervised more closely, or sometimes have placed the jug in sight but in a position where they would need to ask a grown up who will then help them to pour their own drink. Some children have a lidded cup, but generally the adult would provide support for the child to pour their own drink and then put the lid on for them.

 

Overall the water dispenser was the best because even the littlies could manage this quite well, with an adult keeping a weather eye on what they were doing. Spills inevitably happen with children of all ages, and then we help children to clear up which we feel fosters independence as children recognise that if they make a mess they will be expected to tidy it up.

 

For snack children poured their own drinks, with lids being put on by an adult afterwards if necessary.

[Panders]

We are pre-school, the children bring in their own flask of water, it goes into a crate kept in the hallway and they can go out and drink from it at any time, they are gently reminded to on hotter days and if they wish they can have it at snack time.

[Guest]

Thanks Panders - that seems a really good idea actually. It is something that Ofsted picked us up on at our last inspection and I know many preschools offer a free serve option but with a very hectic preschool with lots of 2 year olds as well as 3 and 4 we want to make sure we are offering the best we can without creating lots more work for staff.

[redjayne]

We have a water cooler in the playroom which the 2-5's can access when they choose, and as a busy full daycare setting we have a fair amount of two year olds in at any one time. Yes there are a few spills and a few who just love to lean on the tap occasionally and watch the flow but generally we have less mess than when we had jugs of water available, and they soon learn what gets spilled has to be wiped up , so do it automatically. They also pour thier own drinks for snack, and after trying jugs with lids we went back to open topped jugs as there was less mess again and the children were more easily able to measure how much they want and stop pouring when they can see the liquid.

[Inge]

We are pre-school, the children bring in their own flask of water, it goes into a crate kept in the hallway and they can go out and drink from it at any time, they are gently reminded to on hotter days and if they wish they can have it at snack time.

 

 

Thanks Panders - that seems a really good idea actually. It is something that Ofsted picked us up on at our last inspection and I know many preschools offer a free serve option but with a very hectic preschool with lots of 2 year olds as well as 3 and 4 we want to make sure we are offering the best we can without creating lots more work for staff.

 

 

a good idea but things to think about if you do implement similar...

 

parents asked to provide this don't always remember.. what if they forget one day

 

if you provide think of the amount of washing and cleaning the bottles entails for the numbers you need.

 

how do you ensure they are all fresh and not just recycled everyday from home, contents never changing

 

how will you ensure that the children access their own bottles... easy in a smaller setting but if you are that busy you cannot supervise a jug/dispenser and cups how will this be monitored. no guarantee a 2 yr old will not just pick up any bottle..

 

I am sure there are good answers to these that work for some but they may need addressing .. we tried and found it took more time than a jug and cups.

[kristina]

We are also a Pre-School with up to 8 2 year olds in any one session! We have a tray with cups and there are 3 jugs of water, 1 with a couple of inches in the bottom and it has a lid with only a small opening, this is the one the children use and the staff top it up from the other jugs! This way all the children can use it but there can only ever be small spillages because of the level of water in the jug and because of the type of lid! Also by only putting a small amount of water in the 2 year olds can manage the jug really well as it's not too heavy, Ofsted were happy with this arrangement at our inspection!

 

Kris

[thumperrabbit]

We are a mixed aged setting currently with 18 2yr olds out of a group of 24 altogether.

 

We have cups and a jug with a lid which is placed in a deep sided tray, so that when the spills happen (and they do) at least it is contained within the tray.

 

I did view a pre-school sometime ago which had a portable water dispenser which I really liked and the children seemed to cope well with, but I haven't seen one - we are a packaway setting so can't have a permanent one in the hall.

[Guest]

Our numbers are quite similar to thumperrabbit's and we also use a jug and cups for the children to help themselves to. We locate the water and snack are out of the way so it isn't in the main run of play, and the children have been quite proficient in pouring their own drinks. To be honest the older children were more hesitant at first! We only have one who has taken to pouring water everywhere (again a slightly older one) so now we just all keep an eye for him heading in the direction and then pop round to support him. I feel the pouring is more for the fun of water play so we are trying to redirect this interest. I've been pleasantly surprised by how well it has been going with all the 2 year olds.