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Lick'le Oakes
16-07-2011, 08:47 PM
Please can anybody give me some advice please. I look after 8 children (with two assistants) ranging from 8 months to 3 1/2 years. My lunchtimes have always been fairly calm and controlled, all the children bring their own packed lunch, story on in the background. We all sit around a table and all eat at the same time. Lately the lunch times are not happy times, one girl eats like an animal shoving it all in so I have constantly been trying to teach her to take smaller bites etc, another child has started ripping up his sandwich and playing with his food. I am constantly telling them to sit on their bottoms etc, no banging on the table etc. My question is how strict should I be, do I let the children eat how and as much as they like, dp I encourage them to eat a bit more, I feel i am turning into a really strict horrible childminder but on the other hand I don't want them eating disgusting or putting yoghurt or food everywhere or saying they have finished when clearly they haven't.

keeks
16-07-2011, 09:49 PM
Hi Lickle Oakes, I am interested in what replies you get to this post. I have got a bunch of babies who can all fee themselves now, and then I've got a 3 and a 4 year old who tend to play with their food a lot. They make their veg etc "walk", talk, sing, jump, dance... I wouldn't mind if the food walked straight from the plate into their mouths, but they do more playing than eating if I don't remind them constantly.

I don't want to be super strict, but I don't like it when they do this all the time! So far I have asked them to set an example to the babies how to eat without making a mess, and this usually works for a few minutes.

xx

rickysmiths
16-07-2011, 09:55 PM
Please can anybody give me some advice please. I look after 8 children (with two assistants) ranging from 8 months to 3 1/2 years. My lunchtimes have always been fairly calm and controlled, all the children bring their own packed lunch, story on in the background. We all sit around a table and all eat at the same time. Lately the lunch times are not happy times, one girl eats like an animal shoving it all in so I have constantly been trying to teach her to take smaller bites etc, another child has started ripping up his sandwich and playing with his food. I am constantly telling them to sit on their bottoms etc, no banging on the table etc. My question is how strict should I be, do I let the children eat how and as much as they like, dp I encourage them to eat a bit more, I feel i am turning into a really strict horrible childminder but on the other hand I don't want them eating disgusting or putting yoghurt or food everywhere or saying they have finished when clearly they haven't.

I would divide up into smaller groups and sit at different tables for a while and see if that calms things down.

rickysmiths
16-07-2011, 09:57 PM
Hi Lickle Oakes, I am interested in what replies you get to this post. I have got a bunch of babies who can all fee themselves now, and then I've got a 3 and a 4 year old who tend to play with their food a lot. They make their veg etc "walk", talk, sing, jump, dance... I wouldn't mind if the food walked straight from the plate into their mouths, but they do more playing than eating if I don't remind them constantly.

I don't want to be super strict, but I don't like it when they do this all the time! So far I have asked them to set an example to the babies how to eat without making a mess, and this usually works for a few minutes.

xx



Maybe try Risotto, Cottage Pie with all the veg included in the meal?

miffy
17-07-2011, 07:31 AM
I would divide up into smaller groups and sit at different tables for a while and see if that calms things down.

And, if possible, have you and an assistant sit with each group - cut food into smaller pieces so they can just eat it and limit how much is on their plate, they can always have more once they've finished. Encourage the older ones to "show" the younger ones how to eat properly and to help them.

Good luck

Miffy xx

Scarlivs
17-07-2011, 08:14 AM
I don't know if this will help you or not but at a nursery I once worked at we had the children sit on different tables with a member of staff who also ate some lunch with them! It really seemed to calm down the food flicking and messy eaters!! Again, I don't know how practical this would be for your setting but thought it was worth a mention!

sarah707
17-07-2011, 08:16 AM
When children cram food I cut it into little pieces and give them a piece at a time so they chew, swallow and then choose the next piece. I find it helps them to focus on eating carefully.

I explain that they are likely to choke or bite their tongue if they put too much in. I tell parents what I am doing and why and hope they carry it on at home... although I find children who eat like this tend to either eat in front of the TV or alone.

When children play with food I talk about the difference between toys and food and how we can play with toys but playing with food is not what it is for. Again if they continue I go back to giving them much smaller portions (always with seconds if they want more) so they learn to eat more carefully.

We don't get up separately at meal times unless a child is really really slow and needs support in which case I will stay with them a little bit longer. We all sit at the same time and we all get up at the same time, so there is no value to eating quickly because getting down early is not a reward.

We talk about chewing properly and how it helps digestion and the adults eat with the children and set good examples (as I am sure you and your assistants do). We find over time this helps the children to appreciate the value of meal times as a time of the day they look forward to rather than rush through.

I sometimes find 'I don't like it' actually means 'I am full' and sometimes visa versa so I don't make a fuss, just take the plate and offer slightly less next time so there isn't as much wastage. Again Nige always does enough for seconds if anyone is extra hungry.

I think it's really hard sometimes when children are silly at the table because the silliness is catching and they start being daft with each other and then doing even dafter things to make each other laugh. I have divided and conquered in the past but I don't like doing it because meal times should be social occasions with time for all the children to talk together and they learn so much about listening skills and conversations.

We also play games with numbers and letters, tell jokes and generally hope the children enjoy their meals for the eating rather than rushing through them. Sometimes I get posters or books and we look at those or read through them and sometimes our special doll (who talks to the children) joins us at the table and tells them stories... anything to keep them focussed and happy to sit and be part of meal times.

We have a problem at the moment with messiness... any ideas on that one? We have food all over the floor most meal times and it's disheartening and not very nice on the carpet. We have tried pushing them up and chins over plates and please don't wave your fork about and all the rest but it's just not working :rolleyes:

Hth :D

mushpea
17-07-2011, 09:07 AM
Ours get sandwichhs on a plate, when those have all gone then they get some fruit then when thats gone somthing else,, I wont put a lot on their plate as i find they just pick at what they want and will eat the middle of the bread and not the crusts or eat all the crisps and nothing else .
If they arent sitting still after a couple of warnings and are old enough to understand what you say then take their food away untill they can sit nicley.
also all of ours wait for each other so if one child says they've finished after eating one bit of a sandwich ( which does happen with one child) then they have to wait for everyone else to finish before they leave the table, obviously if one child is messing about then I wouldnt make the others wait for them.
Its funny cause i do this at lunch time but with after school snack I let them get down when they have all finished, mainly because one schoolie takes forever to eat her biscuit and the others get fed up but I have noticed more and more that one child will stuff his biscuit in as quick as possible so he can go and play again,, maybe I need to do the same at snack as I do at lunch and make them wait for each other.

jo f
17-07-2011, 08:03 PM
My meal times got chaotic! Especially after schools, exremely noisy/giddy. Probably due to them being so calm and controlled all day. I introduced sticker awards for behaviour reasons. Its made a huge difference!

Lick'le Oakes
17-07-2011, 08:11 PM
Thanks for all your replies, some great advice, which I do do most of it anyway, but might try doing smaller groups tomorrow see if that makes a difference, will let you know, lol

love381
17-07-2011, 08:38 PM
Ours get sandwichhs on a plate, when those have all gone then they get some fruit then when thats gone somthing else,, I wont put a lot on their plate as i find they just pick at what they want and will eat the middle of the bread and not the crusts or eat all the crisps and nothing else .
If they arent sitting still after a couple of warnings and are old enough to understand what you say then take their food away untill they can sit nicley.
also all of ours wait for each other so if one child says they've finished after eating one bit of a sandwich ( which does happen with one child) then they have to wait for everyone else to finish before they leave the table, obviously if one child is messing about then I wouldnt make the others wait for them.
Its funny cause i do this at lunch time but with after school snack I let them get down when they have all finished, mainly because one schoolie takes forever to eat her biscuit and the others get fed up but I have noticed more and more that one child will stuff his biscuit in as quick as possible so he can go and play again,, maybe I need to do the same at snack as I do at lunch and make them wait for each other.

Perhaps a timed snack with the after schoolies - this way the longer eater won't eat even slower just to hold the others up (I've got one of those, he will nibble his food and watch others get really fed up waiting for him). We introduced a time and his food/snack was taken away after it. We started with a really long time scale and now have snack down to 20 minutes and we rarely take his food away anymore. x