At Grasshoppers we teach the children about food including how to grow it, how to harvest it , how to prepare it and how to cook it. The children spend a lot of their time outside learning from the various professional staff employed by the estate as well as the experienced team of nursery staff.
Ensuring children eat a varied, nutritionally balanced diet is very important for a variety of reasons.
Food gives us energy and allows us to be alert to learning and development.
Educating children to eat healthily during childhood will hopefully allow them to make healthier choices once they are adults.
Eating healthily also ensures that children receive all the correct vitamins and minerals for growth at a time when their bodies are changing constantly.
Children who have a healthy relationship with food often go on to be healthy eaters in later life, often being less fussy.
Children who grow their own food and cook with those ingredients will often be braver when exposed to new tastes and textures, they will be willing to give it a go.
The social side of mealtimes is important as children imitate eating choices and food preferences modelled by others. Early experiences with eating are often linked to those in later childhood and adulthood.
We all have a sugary treat now and again but it is extremely important that we teach our children that healthy eating and exercise allow the body to grow and develop, our minds remain alert for constant learning and generally promote a good sense of wellbeing.