Snack Table

[Guest terrydoo73]

I have a problem which I hope you can help me with - I feel I am being too heavy handed and don't know how to back peddle if you understand what I mean!

 

We have a system of registering the order of children to have snack as it works well in terms of children enjoying choosing when they will go and who with but there are 2 boys who are proving difficult to persuade to put their own symbols up to tell us when they will be going. We just do not know what to do to entice them to the snack table.

 

One child who is only 3 is asked to put up his symbol and he immediately says "no". I will then say "do you want some toast and fruit today" and of course the answer is "no". I believe it is a case of power - preferring to say no than doing what is asked. I also wonder is it a case of he is busy involved with the activity and thinks he is going to have to go right at that specific moment in time so I have tried not saying anything until snack time has actually started. We are unsure whether it is a case of being overtired and therefore just wants to be contrary if you understand what I mean!

 

The second child is aged 4 and refuses point blank to have snack every day for no apparent reason. We have explained to his mum that we think he is under the impression because he has had breakfast he therefore does not need snack. Then we thought it was possibly a desire to prefer being on his own at the snack table and therefore will leave it to the last minute which he has done on some occasions. In these circumstances we have left him to it and let him eat on his own.

 

We would love all our children to eat snack each day and we realise it is not something you can or should force but the knock on effect has been in seeing others decide not to have any snack just because these 2 have decided to do this. We are in a small setting, do not have the capacity to have a rolling snack time and prefer to have it supervised as it provides a social occasion for both adults and children. Perhaps we should consider a different snack - at present it is toast and 2 pieces of fruit with a choice of milk or water and in the past we have provided pancakes and plain biscuits. I have wondered if it would maybe be an idea for the parents to say contribute something and in this way the children would be involved at home in talking about what they are bringing in for snack - it wouldn't have to be something elaborate but say cheese slices or specific fruit other than what we have at present???

[Guest]

In our setting we have a snack bar that is open for an hour. Children are encouraged to come over when there is a space during this hour. we have a member of staff who sits at the table and another who is their "helper" who gently reminds and encourages children to go to the snack area when there is a space.

Have to say snack bar is extremely popular and children often rush to find a space and we have to ask them to wait. However there has been a couple of occasions where a child will be asked if they would like their snack and they say no, we would leave these children to play and when the hour is nearly up they are told that snack bar is closing and that it is their last chance to have snack this session. this generally is enough for the child to head over but if they point blank refused we would tell their parent they refused snack today.

Our setting is a 3 hour session setting and whilst it is ideal that they have a snack during this time, it will not harm the child if they go from breakfast to lunch without it and parents often say they will encourage them to eat a bit more lunch and have an afternoon snack when we tell them.

We recently found out that one child who never wanted their snack eats breakfast just minutes before he leaves his house and often eats a big bowl of porridge so by an hour or so later he simply isn't that hungry, it's little things like this that can influence a childs decision.

[Guest]

Maybe the children in question could make suggestions for snack? or help prepare it?or even bake something? At the end of the day it is their choice and prehaps letting them opt out and not get a reaction will make them think about it next time, its a ploy we have used and is usually effective however we have one child who has been with us for 18mths who has never had snack ( he does, however eat anything we bake or cook as an activity). He has breakfast before preschool and always eat all his lunch so mum is not concerned.

[Upsy Daisy]

I would try offering opportunities for children to be involved in preparing snack because I think this encourages all children to try different foods and enjoy sharing the fruits of their labours. It helps us present healthy food in a positive way.

 

Apart from that I would simply give them a couple of reminders and then accept their decision not to have a snack.

 

When my daughter was in reception she would eat an enormous breakfast and not want a snack. We don't generally eat between meals in our house. The staff insisted I sent one and that she ate it. They then started to complain at me that she wouldn't eat her lunch!

 

She should have been left to make her own decision about when she was ready to eat and I honestly think these boys should be too. Persuading and enticing children to eat can turn it into a power struggle and that's a battle that the grown-ups never win.

[narnia]

I wouldn't make a fuss about it.........................ask them if they want snack, if they say no, ask once more before it is cleared away and if they still say no, that's that.

I have one child who would never eat at the setting, who is gradually coming to sit with the others and who will now eat a bread stick, or a small amount of houmous,nothing else, no matter how inviting or delicious. I had another who we were monitoring very closely, due to child neglect concerns, and she would devour everything put before her. I generally think that children will eat when they are hungry AND if you deal with it in a very matter of fact way. Once they see it as a way to manipulate you, then for some children it becomes an issue. In general, I don't think the other children would say no to snack just because one or two others refuse it, especially if you keep things calm, make the point that it will be cleared away in ( however long...............maybe put a sandtimer on the table when there are five or ten minutes left, so they have a visual clue???) and then just do it. If they moan, tell them you're sorry, snack time is over for today, but it will soon be lunch time and they can eat then.

[Inge]

we too offered the snack table for a limited time each day and had an adult there with it, so they still had all the interaction of an adult and other children but also the choice of when to come..

 

it need not be for long and we found that the simple not actually asking them to come was often a way that they came on their own.. if they had not before all the others had we said we were clearing it away and the last chance to get snack... not actually ask them to come but give an option, worded so there was no way to say no .. we were often 12 children at a session and managed this quite well with the children helping to prepare , pouring their own drinks etc.

 

We had them make own placemats on A4 card which we laminated and they had their names on them and we added any allergies etc to the back before laminating so anyone could supervise the table and check if the foods were suitable for that child.

 

and we accepted no was just that, not all children need a snack it is only 3 hours and water always available so they could have that any time..

[Stargrower]

This might not be very constructive, but maybe they're just not hungry. We offer self-service snack so that children can choose to have a snack when they want to. If they don't have one, we ask or remind, but if the answer is no, we just accept that they don't want one. They know if they are hungry, and aren't going to starve!

Beehive

[Guest]

I agree with others here. I think you just need to accept that they aren't going to have snack. As for the other children also refusing this is also something you will have to accept and which will probably sort itself out if you don't make a fuss. You mention that you like all children to have snack, but isn't it supposed to be about what the children want? Nobody likes being force fed and no otherwise healthy child is going to starve if they go three hours without eating, anymore than a child is going to choose to starve themselves if they really do want something to eat.

 

I think you need to give a general reminder at the start of the session about snack and perhaps other general reminders towards the end of snack time (as I'm sure you already do), but apart from that I wouldn't bother these boys about it anymore. If it's getting them a lot of attention this may be a factor in them continuing and other children may follow because they want a fuss around them to.

 

A variation on the snack might be good occasionally, but again I wouldn't go around making a big fuss of asking these particular boys. Perhaps you could have a general chat with all the children about something they might like for snack (as a substitute for the toast) and start introducing these on the odd occasion, but if these particular boys take no interest and still don't want to eat anything then I wouldn't worry.

 

If you just drop the issue all together it will probably quickly cease to be an issue at all. I'm not saying that this will make them take up having snack because it might simply be that they don't want or need it, but the best thing to do with the issue is probably to let it go.

[enuffsenuf]

If you give children the choice then it has to be accepted that for some children this "snack" is not essential to their wellbeing and therefore it is their rights as human beings to choose whether or not to participate.