Healthy Haven
Lots of thinking goes into feeding your child the healthiest foods at our centres. We know that children are fussy eaters and that is why we take our time to create menus that are appealing and interesting, while being packed with the right balance of nutrition.
What children eat from an early age influences their future eating habits and their overall health and wellbeing for life, thus we include it part of our curriculum. A balanced, varied and nutritious diet with plenty of vegetables and fruits is vital for energy, brain function, growth and development.
We make sure that our children are involved in all the stages of food preparation. From tending to vegetable and herb gardens, to helping out in food preparation, our children get to eat what they produce and can experiment with different tastes and types of food.
Our focus is on healthy food and nutrition from an early age. We include easy lessons during the day which are a part of our daily discussions around healthy eating.
There are regular discussions about healthy eating and the food pyramid and we talk to our children from a young age about what types of food they should eat most and what types of food less and what they should avoid and keep only for very special occasions.
Our eating plan conversations revolve around:
- Fruit and vegetables and how much to eat in a day with examples
- Bread and cereals and how much is needed with examples
- Meat and fish and other protein rich food and why they are needed
- Milk and foods made with diary, or calcium rich diary alternatives, and why milk and dairy is good for you
- Snacks and how much to eat and what to stay away from
- Oils and fats and what different types there are.
Healthy food recipes are shared with our families to use at home and children take part in healthy cooking classes to teach children lifelong principles about healthy eating and cooking and looking after our bodies and what we put in them.
All our menus are designed in consultation with nutritionists and assessed by Nutrition Australia to prepare balanced and tasty menus children will enjoy eating.
A sample of our menu
Breakfast
- Seasonal Fruit Platter with low sugar yogurt
- Fruit smoothies
- Toasted low sugar raisin bread
- Assorted wholegrain cereals with milk
- Wholemeal toast with assorted spreads
Morning Tea
- Veggie sticks with homemade hummus
- Fruit kebabs
- Oat slice
- Mini quiches
- Yogurt with assorted seasonal fruit
Lunch
- Tuna patties with garden salad
- Lamb or Lentil curry with rice
- Chicken stir-fry with rice
- Beef and vegetable Bolognese spirals
- Cheesy cauliflower bake
Afternoon Tea
- Banana bread
- Spinach and cheese quesadillas
- Zucchini slice
- Brown rice crackers with cheese and dip
- Apple and cinnamon muffins