Allowing children to serve themselves is recommend by many national entities. Children gain a sense of pride and strengthen their sense of belonging to the group when they take an active role during mealtimes. During self-service, children develop fine motor skills, eye-hand coordination, and learn to understand size, shape, and weight concepts. ECE professionals can teach children how to serve themselves and provide an environment that prepares children for self-service. (2 hours)
Objectives
- Recognize why it is important for children to serve themselves and select their own portions
- Identify strategies for implementing self-service at mealtime
- Practice teaching children to serve themselves during play
- Identify solutions for overcoming self-service challenges in your classroom
- Reflect on mealtime scenarios and recommend improvements by applying self-service concepts
- Select, practice, and reflect on weekly goals
The EAT Family Style curriculum includes seven interactive, online courses. View information on the full series (PDF).
Note: At this time, this course is not available to Nebraska, Oklahoma, and South Dakota learners.
