how many employees needed

[Unregistered]

hello!
not sure how to ask this!
We have a childcare center and i wanted to see how many people you need for cooking/serving lunch. right now we are fixing about 40 plates. there is one cook and then the kids teachers passes out their plates. the ages are 2--3-4....what are the ways larger daycare centers provide lunch? I am just looking for ideas on how to get all the plates done quickly so the food doesn't get cold!
thanks everyone for your help!
kathy

[melilley]

Hi! I only have a home daycare, but before this I worked in a center and we had one cook. The cook would make the lunch, pass it out to each classroom and the teachers would make up the plates and pass them out or for the older children, we did family style where the bowls would be set out and the children would serve themselves, usually the 3+ year old children. I should explain that we would put the food in bowls and cover them with plastic wrap or foil, put the bowls on carts and pass them out to the classrooms. It has always worked out fine and we had 60+ children!

[Patches]

Hi! I only have a home daycare, but before this I worked in a center and we had one cook. The cook would make the lunch, pass it out to each classroom and the teachers would make up the plates and pass them out or for the older children, we did family style where the bowls would be set out and the children would serve themselves, usually the 3+ year old children. I should explain that we would put the food in bowls and cover them with plastic wrap or foil, put the bowls on carts and pass them out to the classrooms. It has always worked out fine and we had 60+ children!

This is how it was done in the larger centers I worked for, also.

[Lyss]

Hi! I only have a home daycare, but before this I worked in a center and we had one cook. The cook would make the lunch, pass it out to each classroom and the teachers would make up the plates and pass them out or for the older children, we did family style where the bowls would be set out and the children would serve themselves, usually the 3+ year old children. I should explain that we would put the food in bowls and cover them with plastic wrap or foil, put the bowls on carts and pass them out to the classrooms. It has always worked out fine and we had 60+ children!

Exactly

I was director of a large center (6wks through elementary) and we had one cook who did breakfast, am snack, lunch, pm snack. If she fell behind or someone wanted to eat early we'd have a floater, room staff (if numbers allowed) or someone from the office help out taking the food but usually our cook was on it! She was great!

[pandamom]

I work in a large center- newborn-5 years old and has 200+ children. There is a kitchen staff of 6 that cook all meals and snacks. We do family style dining so they put the food in big bowls/plates and wraps them in foil to hold in the warmth. They put them in the small rubbermade buckets to keep them organized. In the buckets are everything for each class- utensils, cups, plates, etc.

Someone then loads the buckets onto a cart and place a bucket outside of each classroom. Then caregivers set the tables and help children serve themselves at the table.

If kitchen staff is short on employees, floaters or management will step in to help