Snack time can often be an overlooked period, although it is one that can become very noisy and out of hand at times. The best way to handle it is to be prepared beforehand, transition children slowly into the area, give them a specific time frame, and keep a staff member within the area to monitor.
This is also a great time to work on conversational skills as well as manners!
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A specific time period (i.e. 15 minutes) can be dictated to children at the beginning with reminders of how much time they have left throughout the period
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A timer or a clock should be placed within the area in order to allow the children to see their time limits visually. (“Once the big hand is on the 5 snack time is over”). This also helps to get them acquainted with reading a clock.
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When children are washing hands, it is helpful to have an adult in the area to monitor the line and help guide children towards their seats while maintaining a safe and calm environment.
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Assigned seats (name cards or self-designed place mats work well) help to decrease chatter in finding a seat, conflict over who is sitting next to who and creates for a more organized, controlled snack time.
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If possible, spread out children and teachers amongst each table. To decrease the noise level, you can limit conversations to only speaking to friends at your own table.
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You can put pictures on tables or have a question of the day to guide the discussion, increase conversational skills, and keep conversations contained within tables. Staff at the tables should be facilitating positive interactions.
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It is helpful to have snack set up prior to the allotted time. Having children help set up is a great way to involve them in a positive way.
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For students who have difficulty transitioning from snack, it can be beneficial to give them a task to complete prior to moving on to the next activity (cleaning the table, pushing in chairs, sweeping, etc).
