- We take a positive attitude when talking about food and wonder and examine the food together with the children, through joy, says Päivi Toivonen, deputy director of Daycare Hopealaakso, Vilma Kivinen, early childhood education teacher, and Minna Gustaffson, early childhood education childcare worker.
The entire daycare centre staff is committed to conscious food education and is motivated to develop it. The children familiarise themselves with food through their senses and by learning about food preparation, different cuisines and the origin of the food.
– The daycare centre’s food services provide us with the ingredients necessary to carry out food education. The buffet often includes seasonal vegetables, which we examine and even chop together, says the staff.
Aiming for pleasant experiences and reduced food waste
Shared rules have been created for meals, and they are the same for everyone. Mealtimes and dining areas are also supported by the presence of illustrative pictures to make everything as clear to the children as possible and promote success and initiative. The daycare centre also has a forest group that dines in the forest. It, too, carries out food education.
The staff participates in a great deal of collaboration with the kitchen staff, who provide tips and advice to promote a positive relationship with food. Food services also ensure a beautiful buffet every day.
– The attractive and tidy presentation of food strengthens a positive food experience. We also bake together with the children, for example, for grandparents’ day, and this familiarises the children with different kinds of ingredients, says Säde Hess from Palvelukeskus Helsinki, food service manager for Hopealaakso.
Reducing food waste is also a part of the food education offered by Daycare Hopealaakso, and it is a goal shared by the entire daycare centre. One concrete way to reduce food waste is having an adult be present and support the child while the child is selecting which food to put on the plate.
Any extra ingredients can also be used for baking, which also reduces waste.
– We have baked a pie using the apples and blueberries we picked together. Sometimes we bake bread rolls to eat for lunch or as a snack with leftover morning porridge. We're already eagerly waiting to grow our own garden in the spring with the raised garden beds provided by the parents’ committee, says the daycare centre’s deputy manager Päivi Toivonen happily.