Food Standards
Food Standards
At Busy Bees Pre-School it is our role to work with parents to ensure every child has access to nutritious food during the Pre-School day reducing foods high in fat, salt and sugar. We know how fast children grow and understand to support them we need to give them the right amount of nutrients, energy and create healthy eating habbits.
We believe in “A healthy plate” approach giving children to eat a balanced diet containing a wide variety of foods. Our snacks xxxxxxxxxxx. The morning snack cafe is designed to give children the opportunity to have discussions with friends at the table whilst serving themself food milk and water. It teaches them all about hygiene, table manners for safe eating and encourages them to try new foods that they might not try at home. For example children who won’t touch broccoli at home might happily try some if they see their peers eating it. Lunch is not provided but we ask parents to follow our POLICY?!?! and goverment and guidlines. In the afternoon children are invited to have a glass of milk.
A water station is always accessible by children, we ask parents to bring a drinks bottle for their child.
At home we encourage parents to plan meals and snacks that include a variety of food and drinks from the 4 main food groups every day. The more children try new foods, the wider the range of nutrients they will get from their meals.
Eatwell Guide
The eatwell guide shows what a balance of foods should look like in one day or over a whole week and applies to children from the age of 2 years.
A healthy, balanced diet is based on the 4 main food groups
fruit and vegetables
potatoes, bread, rice, pasta and other starchy carbohydrates
dairy or dairy alternatives
beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meat and other proteins
These provide essential nutrients to help children grow and develop.
The benefits of food activities
During focus group? cover this
There are lots of benefits of providing fun food activities for children:
confidence – children are more likely to try new foods and widen their diet
language – children learn new vocabulary and words from different languages
physical – cooking helps children practice physical skills, such as gross and fine motor skills, which help muscle development and hand-eye coordination
emotional – children can feel competent and proud of themselves when cooking
relationships – cooking activities can support team work and relationships between children and adults
mathematics – children will learn numbers through counting and measuring
science – children can observe how different ingredients mix together and the effects of heat and cooling
understanding the world around them – including where spices come from, how vegetables are grown and sustainability
diversity and culture – children can learn where foods come from and how different cultures use different cooking techniques