Nutrition
Kid’n Around provides a healthy morning and afternoon tea daily for the children and families are encouraged to pack a nutritionally appropriate lunch for their child following the Munch and Move guidelines for packing a lunch box.
Families are asked to pack wholegrain sandwiches, dairy products such as cheese or yoghurt, a piece of fruit, vegetable, wholegrain breads and crackers and lean meats.
Kid’n Around has a 5-week rotating menu where fresh fruit is always offered to children in the mornings with a side of yoghurt or dried fruit. The Afternoon tea options vary from healthy cereal, mixed platers with cucumber, carrot, hummus to avocado and low-fat cream cheese rice cakes. One afternoon a week each room will cook afternoon tea for the centre. Educators use this opportunity to educate children about healthy eating and will cook with the children carrot muffins, prepare wholemeal sandwiches or bake a healthy quiche. Cooking day is such a fun day where smells from our kitchen fill the centre and the children always enjoy afternoon tea.
For morning and afternoon tea reduced fat milk is always given to children aged 2 and up. This is a requirement of Munch and Move that recommends ‘reduced fat milk contains the same amount of calcium, protein and vitamins as full cream milk’. Children under 2 are provided with full cream milk and sipper cups more suitable for their developmental level.
Download the Fact Sheet on Dairy for Young Children
Click to download the Munch & Move Fact Sheet.
The NSW Government initiative Munch and Move recognises that good nutritional habits develop in early education. Children’s food choices impact their energy levels and overall health, wellbeing and development. In line with our sustainability policy and being environmentally responsible the centre encourages nude food lunch boxes with minimal or no packaging. This creates awareness to the amount of landfill that is generated from food packaging.
Children have access to water throughout the day and can drink when thirsty. Children bring labelled drink bottles to kindy that are stored in their class rooms water crates and can always be freely accessed.
We believe that meal times are a perfect time to role model the correct behaviour. Educators’ model healthy eating and drinking habits to children when they sit, eat and drink at meal times.
Birthdays celebrations are part of the centre and a child with a food allergy or cultural requirement will never be excluded. The educators will seek information from a family regarding what a child can eat and offer this to the child. For more information of healthy eating please look at the Munch and Move informative fact sheets below.
Munch & Move Fact Sheets
Click to view, download and print the range of Munch & Move fact sheets.