AnonyMouse_4495 Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 I've been around here for a long time and I think this must be the strangest question I've ever asked.... How do you serve bananas at snack time? One of my colleagues had an observation today and part of it was snack preparation. The tutor picked up that sliced bananas (into circles) were a choking hazard. We have 2-4 year olds in our setting and key workers all sit with the children at snack time. The member of staff sliced them into long strips today and they all went back to the kitchen!! Please tell me she is making this up..... (or provide any evidence to show that we have been serving a potential hazard for the last however many years) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_22106 Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 Never hear that one! We serve banana like you, our biggest problem is that it is so slippery when cut the children keep dropping them - so I could say that may end up a slipping hazard Bananas always seem to go down best with ours I wish we could afford to have a small whole banana for each child, like at school 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_9650 Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 We serve bananas chopped in circles too - hard fruits such as cherries, cherry tomatoes and grapes are cut in half but soft circular bananas haven't been problematic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_19762 Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 Yes i am a circular banana chopper too! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_4495 Posted June 22, 2015 Author Share Posted June 22, 2015 We think that she just has to find 'something' to pick up on every time she visits. Plus she's seen snack at least twice and not mentioned it! Now our toddler organiser is in a panic about cutting bananas. I've told her to leave it until we find some credible evidence. I think I'll challenge the tutor next time too - I wasn't part of that conversation today or else I would've asked her for more information! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_8282 Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 Well we had a memo form LA last year saying about sausages not to be in circles?... maybe she's taking that a bit further? That said we serve bananas in circles..... Actually, technically we serve them cut at an angle which makes a shape that I cant remember the name of - so not a flat circle, and the only reason is because it makes the slice bigger nothing to do with H+S !!! Also had a raw jelly reminder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_23964 Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 Raw jelly ..... Please share. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_30128 Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 ok I understand grapes and tomatoes although I think if you risk assess for the children involved then!!!!?????!!!! however banana? it is very soft...ask her for evidence and tell her you'll do it when she has proved it! as for cutting bananas we split the skin from top to bottom and chop in to chunky slices...this way the children have to peel the banana and realise they cant eat that :wacko: and the banana doesn't go too brown over the snack period :1b 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_8282 Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 Raw jelly ..... Please share. I shall try and find a link, but it is actually a very sad case. More of a concern for the younger age groups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_8282 Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 https://www.pacey.org.uk/news-and-views/news/raw-jelly-cubes-risk/ Raw jelly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_23964 Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 Oh sorry Louby Lou, I have never heard about this case. Didn't mean to sound flippant. Thanks for the info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_8282 Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 Oh sorry Louby Lou, I have never heard about this case. Didn't mean to sound flippant. Thanks for the info. I didn't read your comment as flippant. :1b :1b :1b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 We do the same as finleysmaid - chop into large chunks and split the skin so they have to peel their own. Much more popular than the slices too, we've found! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 I was astounded when I started working in a nursery and was told about the 'banana' policy. Bananas must be chopped into chunks sliced diagonally or lengthwise as they are considered a choking hazard. I am from the 'older' generation and begin to wonder however I reached this age! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_51737 Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 Banana policy ? !!! Only thing around here is a policy that's bananas....... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_11396 Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 What has happened to good old common sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_39602 Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 It's not the circles that are the hazard but the skins we discard onto the floor and don't get me on to the ones in pyjamas ! Haha In all seriousness , I don't like brown bananas nor do the children so I put a chopping board on the table with our kinder knives and they cut their own banana in half or thirds and then peel ! Problem solved , lots of skills learnt too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_13453 Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 Ours are chopped into chunks, so three or four chunks from a banana - easy to pick up and has to be bitten, not put in whole Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_30128 Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 worrying isn't it that this post has had 225 hits so far....! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_3735 Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 This is beginning to sound so silly and H&S gone mad The reason grapes and cherries. tomatoes etc are a hazard is mainly because of the shape and skin making them slippy and easy to swallow whole , the skin also means they do not 'squish' once swallowed... not the same for banana.. That said we used to make them into chunks about an inch long so they had to be bitten to eat.. easier to pick up was out main reason though - once we got some child knives (Pampered chef ones ) we let the children cut a chunk off at the table.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_4495 Posted June 23, 2015 Author Share Posted June 23, 2015 Thanks for making me think I'm not completely nuts (didn't want to use the banana pun!) I like the idea of the splitting skin and getting the children to peel it themselves, so thanks for that suggestion. I completely understand grapes etc and bananas in circles with babies could be an issue if they put them in their mouth and just suck them down, but we've got 2+ year olds. I won't be rushing into writing a new banana policy just yet! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_19762 Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 worrying isn't it that this post has had 225 hits so far....! Plain bananas if you ask me 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_30128 Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 Plain bananas if you ask me oh you just couldn't resist 'slipping' that one in could you! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_19782 Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 Yes we chunk it as it is about to be eaten, don't like brown sticky bananas - but I do like the leave the skin on but split it idea, so will try that - however, current cohort are not banana fans, and I have one boy who resolutely refuses to eat anything other than the rice cake/toast/cracker option, no cheese, no raisin and no fruit, but will bring dried banana chips for his lunch or dried apple rings. Appears to be a texture thing with him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_5970 Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 I have just one thing to say on this subject 'REALLY?!' 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_39998 Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 Ours are chopped into chunks, so three or four chunks from a banana - easy to pick up and has to be bitten, not put in whole we do the same not because of any choking hazard but purely for the fact the circles are so slippery they end up everywhere x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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