A project about health, nutrition, literacy and numeracy has sparked the curiosity of preschool children at Goodstart Brookvale.
The “rainbow food project” started as a chance for the children to learn about different colours of foods and their nutritional meaning but quickly extended into further research, the making of their own farmers market, a visit to the local supermarket and the creation of a healthy food restaurant.
The natural progression of these activities is an example of educators being led by the children’s interests and extending the opportunity to build on each learning.
Goodstart Brookvale centre director Heidi Webb said the project was the first step in the centre’s plans to integrate healthy eating and sustainability into their learning program.
“The rainbow food project was a great start and it was fantastic to progress the idea from one stage to the next with the children.
“We had a nutritionist come in to talk about the importance of eating fruits and vegetables from different colour groups, and we extended that by researching different coloured foods on our smartboard.
“The children extended this into making a farmers market where they children bought and sold their food, and then we created a shopping list of healthy foods so we could buy them from a real supermarket.
“The nutritionist set up a ‘supermarket detective’ exercise for the children and they inspected fruits and vegetables with a magnifying glass, learning about the effects that different coloured foods have on our bodies.
“We also talk about the textures, tastes and smells, and read different food names on the signs before going back to the centre and using the food in their own restaurant.”
The next step for the centre is to build a community garden at the Westfield Warringah Mall.
“Westfield have just agreed to us establishing a garden near their food court. We’re really excited to get this started to give the children a real ‘paddock to plate’ experience,” Ms Webb said.
The “rainbow food project” started as a chance for the children to learn about different colours of foods and their nutritional meaning but quickly extended into further research, the making of their own farmers market, a visit to the local supermarket and the creation of a healthy food restaurant.
The natural progression of these activities is an example of educators being led by the children’s interests and extending the opportunity to build on each learning.
Goodstart Brookvale centre director Heidi Webb said the project was the first step in the centre’s plans to integrate healthy eating and sustainability into their learning program.
“The rainbow food project was a great start and it was fantastic to progress the idea from one stage to the next with the children.
“We had a nutritionist come in to talk about the importance of eating fruits and vegetables from different colour groups, and we extended that by researching different coloured foods on our smartboard.
“The children extended this into making a farmers market where they children bought and sold their food, and then we created a shopping list of healthy foods so we could buy them from a real supermarket.
“The nutritionist set up a ‘supermarket detective’ exercise for the children and they inspected fruits and vegetables with a magnifying glass, learning about the effects that different coloured foods have on our bodies.
“We also talk about the textures, tastes and smells, and read different food names on the signs before going back to the centre and using the food in their own restaurant.”
The next step for the centre is to build a community garden at the Westfield Warringah Mall.
“Westfield have just agreed to us establishing a garden near their food court. We’re really excited to get this started to give the children a real ‘paddock to plate’ experience,” Ms Webb said.