At Horden Nursery School in County Durham, the development of the whole child is seen as the basis of learning, so real effort is made to help children gain an awareness of healthy physical lifestyles.
Staff encourage children to adopt healthy lifestyles within the overall promotion of their personal development and well-being. The daily snack time supports this.
Headteacher Barbara Wilkin believes that excellent teamwork underpins a successful setting. The staff team ensure that children share healthy snacks daily and are also involved in making healthy snacks. Attention is paid to healthy foods and lifestyles throughout the curriculum, and good foods and keeping healthy are part of regular discussions. Children are also encouraged to know the benefits of drinking water.
To develop self-confidence, self-esteem, feelings of self-worth, and awareness of individual differences, children are presented with a range of healthy foods, which widens their experiences and encourages personal choices. Foods are easily accessible so that children can enjoy them when they wish to, rather than at set times.
Planned learning intentions
As many children entering the setting at this time of year need a great deal of support with social and language skills, learning is based on individual developmental needs
- Seek to do things for themselves, knowing that an adult is close by, ready to support and help if needed
- Use action, sometimes with limited talk, that is largely concerned with the 'here and now'
- Begin to talk about the shapes of everyday objects
- Show curiosity and interest in the features of objects and living things
- Show awareness of a range of healthy practices with regard to eating, sleeping and hygiene
- Explore and experience using a range of senses and movement
Resources
Digital camera, card, laminator, three small baskets in different colours, box with lid, pictures of healthy snack items such as fruits and vegetables, regular supply of healthy snacks, dishes and serving plates, clingwrap
Step by step
Staff explain:
- We take photographs of each child and create small laminated cards with them.
- We stick pictures of our regular snacks to individual sheets of card and add a caption to each sheet - for example, 'We are having strawberries with our milk'. We then laminate each sheet, pierce holes in them all and tie them together to create a flip-over book. We introduce new pages regularly that reflect seasonal influences and children's interests.
- A laminated 'snacks' label is attached to the lid of our box.
- The three coloured baskets represent our three focus groups. We put the appropriate children's photographs into each one.
- We arrange the baskets and box on shelves alongside the snack table and open the book we have made at the relevant page for today's snack.
- Staff arrange the snack on separate dishes or plates, cutting whole fruits, such as pineapple and mango, so that one half can be displayed on the table for children to handle and smell.
- The food is always covered with clingwrap until children come to the table.
- When children decide to have a snack, they come over to the table and check if there is a seat. They then find their picture card in the relevant basket and put it in the box to register their visit. Staff support them with this initially until they can confidently access their snacks independently.
- Staff are always on hand to join the children and encourage them to talk about their choices and discuss how the food looks, smells, feels and tastes. They introduce names of produce and give information about where and how the foods grow, linked to the experience and understanding of individuals.
- Children's visits are monitored so that those who need encouragement - for example, to try different foods or to manage hygiene - will receive support.
- The children's interest in snacks has led to child-initiated and adult-supported learning through play, such as creating dough fruit and growing foods in the garden.
