Recently, we have been working to improve the children’s ownership of their snack time. We began by placing number cards next to the food we were providing at the snack table to encourage the children to select a responsible amount for their plates / appetites with less adult intervention. Almost immediately, the children began to count out loud as well as discuss the number of items on their plates with their peers. We were so impressed that we knew we had to make this a permanent feature at snack time. Over the past few weeks, it has been fascinating to see how much more accurate the children are becoming when counting real life objects one by one. Furthermore, as our number cards are in the form of dot patterns, the children are now developing their ability to subitize each time they come for snack!
Next, we involved the children by asking them to pour their own drinks. Aside from a few puddles appearing around the snack area from time to time, this has also had great success! It has been touching to watch the children pour drinks for their friends as well as themselves.
Our most recent idea came to us when Adam asked the nursery staff if he could help us to prepare snack. The next day, Mrs Martin provided the children with scones for snack and asked them to cut and butter them. They coped so well with this that we knew we had to challenge them even further. We decided that the best way to do this was to involve the children in some aspect of snack preparation every day.
This week, we started by asking the children about their likes and dislikes as well as asking them to suggest ideas for snack. Then, on Tuesday, we provided the children with the ingredients to make their own sandwiches. This led to the children investigating the best way to spread butter as well as exploring how to layer their sandwich neatly. On Wednesday, the children made pizza (Freddie’s suggestion). The children chose their own toppings and talked about the types of pizza they ate at home. We also discussed healthy eating and food types. On Thursday, some of the children participated in a ‘MasterChef’ style identification test when Miss McGinlay asked them to use their sense of smell to collect mint from the herb garden. We used the mint leaves to make raita as a dip for potato wedges. The raita received mixed reviews from “Don’t try the white stuff!” to a big thumbs up.
We are looking forward to hearing what the children want to try next. Please encourage your child to share their favourite foods and recipes with us. Additionally, please let us know if you would like to visit our nursery to help the children develop their knowledge and experience of preparing food.
