Children learn to handle the responsibility of choice at one nursery's snack bar. Helen Dashfield explains.

Providing free choice to children is central to good practice within the Early Years Foundation Stage. Children enjoy being able to choose, and with that freedom, they are able to take control of their learning and develop it in ways that they want.

As part of our practice, we offer free-flow access to the outdoors, which has proved beneficial for the children, extending their choice and reflecting more closely their 'at home' experience. We have now developed children's free choice further in our pre-school room, where we have a self-serve snack bar, called Roarie's.

Many settings use this idea, but we have taken the idea a step further by providing a toaster, so offering greater choice - and with that, responsibility - for the children.

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