Posted: March 16, 2023
March is National Nutrition Month and this year’s theme is "Fuel for the Future." This annual nutrition education campaign is sponsored by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics with the goal of focusing attention on the need for developing sound nutrition and physical activity habits at all ages. Early childhood is an ideal time to instill an appreciation for the consumption of a variety of healthy foods.
It is also a great time of year to review, refresh, and reset your plans to consider introducing some new foods and food experiences into your child care setting. Do you need some ideas for introducing new foods into your child care setting? Are you looking for some enjoyable food experiences that won't make a huge mess and take an entire day to prep?
Look no further! Better Kid Care partnered with Cooking Matters to develop five new 2-hour On Demand courses. These courses, released in December, provide a lot of information from providers, and tips and ideas to assist you in your efforts. In the "Cooking Matters--Meal Appeal and Parent Engagement" course, child care providers learn to identify ways to prepare and serve healthy foods so they appeal to children. This course also examines various ways to engage children and parents to encourage acceptance of healthy foods among children in their care. It discusses safe, age-appropriate tasks for children in the kitchen, and ways to involve children in food activities. Strategies for communicating with parents about best practices for feeding children is also discussed so the children can hear similar messaging at home.
The titles of all the new BKC On Demand Cooking Matters courses include:
- Cooking Matters--Create Positive Mealtime Attitudes
- Cooking Matters--Safe Cooking with Confidence
- Cooking Matters--Choose Healthy Foods for Kids
- Cooking Matters--Meal Appeal and Parent Engagement
- Cooking Matters--Save Time and Money on Menu Planning
For more fun, easy classroom resources focused on healthy eating choices, download the "Exploring Foods Together" lesson plans from Cooking Matters. This toolkit includes easy-to-follow steps for putting together classroom food activities with young children. Each activity includes a recipe, nutrition education objectives, child development, and early learning objectives, and a recommended book list. Also, check out Cooking Matters kids handouts for more ideas to use in the classroom including Taste Testers, Tasting the Rainbow, and Tasting Bingo. For twenty more healthy, easy snack ideas that may be used in your child care setting, check out this Smart Snacking Tips handout from the National Nutrition Month resources webpage.
Get cooking and enjoy!
Content for and funding to develop these courses is provided by Share Our Strength to expand the use of our Cooking Matters for Child Care Professionals training. To learn more, visit cookingmatters.org.
