Prizes at nursery

[mrsmcv]

I thought it was common sense that with children aged 3.5 ish, you didn't give one child something without giving the others something unless it was their birthday or you actually wanted a roomful of distraught kids.
My daughter's nursery has competitions for kids in which they win proper prizes of toys for things like party games on a regular basis. My daughter has been getting really obsessed with winning and beating people and I thought it was just a phase but it turns out this has been going on for months, which just shows you that she's never won anything. It all came out when I picked her up tonight and she said she'd got a present then the carer had to explain to her that she hadn't got a present because she'd not won. Cue the most heartbroken, inconsolable tears I've seen in a v long time. She's the least whingy kid in the world, never complains about anything and to see her like that was awful. I couldn't believe this was going on at nursery. One of the other mums said 'wait til she gets to school' but I was too upset to point out that she's not old enough to go to school and that no school I've ever worked in has done things like this.
I mean prizes at holiday camps, parties etc are one thing but routinely at nursery?

YANBU - It seems a bit strange giving out prizes at nursery. My son's nursery doesn't do that and I wouldn't be happy if it did. I hated it when they did star charts and prizes at school. It never seemed to be very fair. My son's soccer class gives out player of the match certificates and it irritates me as a class for two year olds shouldn't be handing out prizes. I don't like this fostering of competition. I'd be tempted to complain if I were you.

Complain to the council or whoever is above, you should be able to do that anon. I do not think its a good idea AT ALL for little toddlers to be competitive because there are proper prizes ALL the time. This nursery is not one I'd want to take my LO to. Our nursery give out a gift EACH at Christmas when Santa comes to visit, and a gift EACH in the EASTER bonnet competition.

YANBU.

Thanks, I thought I was going mad!

I really don't want her to go back there but in all other respects, this has been an excellent nursery. I'm going to give them a chance to review this practice and then stop doing it and if they don't I will make a formal complaint that OFSTED can talk over with them.

What gets me is that the staff are so experienced and mature, I can't believe they would do something so thoughtless.

I thought the point of nursery at this age was to help them learn to get on with each other, work together, share etc. How does singling out winners with prizes do this?

Grr.

I think OFSTED would be very unhappy with the nursery. Go to it Girl!!!