Sustainable Snack Times in Early Years: A Case Study from The Trees Day Care Nursery
As an early years tutor working closely with settings across the sector, I’m continually inspired by the thoughtful, creative ways practitioners bring sustainability to life for young children. Sustainability isn’t just a concept to be taught, it’s something to be lived, modelled, and embedded into everyday practice. One lovely example from a setting we work with really captures this in action.
At The Trees Day Care Nursery, snack time is more than just an opportunity for children to refuel – it’s also a chance to learn about responsibility, care for the environment, and respect for living things. Like many early years environments, there are often small amounts of leftover food after snack, for example, apple cores, banana peels, crusts, and other natural scraps. Rather than simply discarding these, the team has developed a simple but meaningful routine.
The children help to collect the leftover food and, with adult support, take it to a designated area at the edge of their outdoor space – a woodland that borders the setting. Here, the food is left for local wildlife, particularly the badgers that are known to visit the area.
This small act has become a powerful learning experience. The children are deeply engaged, they talk about where the food goes, who might eat it, and why it’s important not to waste. Practitioners use this as a springboard for discussions about habitats, local animals, and how humans can live in harmony with nature. The space also includes pictures and facts about wildlife to support learning for all ages.
The children are not only developing an awareness of sustainability but also a sense of empathy and connection to the natural world. As educators, we often talk about preparing children for the future. Embedding sustainable practices like this helps to nurture a generation that values the environment and understands their role within it. It’s about planting seeds – both literally and figuratively – that will grow over time.
This example is a reminder that sustainability in early years doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Sometimes, it’s as simple as rethinking what we do with an apple core!
– Abigail Leach, Tutor at Showcase Training
