Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made of the potential merits of including sensory food play as part of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

The Early Years Foundation Stage statutory framework (EYFS) sets the standards that all early years providers must meet for the learning, development and care of children from birth to age five.

Currently, there are no plans to add any mandatory requirements regarding sensory food education into the EYFS.

The department has published an article promoting sensory food education. This supports childminders, nursery leaders and pre-school practitioners to look at incorporating sensory food education into their practice, while delivering the statutory EYFS requirements. The sensory food education article can be found here: https://help-for-early-years-providers.education.gov.uk/get-help-to-improve-your-practice/sensory-food-education.