When it comes to growing fruits and vegetables at your centre, you can’t go past the resources from 5+ A Day.
It can take up to 15 times for a child to see a food before they even try it. Gardening is one way to expose children to a range of fruits and vegetables at a young age. Another way is through stories about food.
5+ A Day worked with Hāpai te Hauora to develop a pukapuka (story) called Te Taonga nei te Kūmara (The Gift of Kūmara).
“The pukapuka was developed in Te Reo and translated into English,” said Carmel Ireland, Project Manager for the 5+ A Day Charitable Trust.
“It’s a great resource to start conversations with tamariki around the lifecycle of kūmara, vegetable gardening generally and maramataka.”
Early childhood educators can order the book free of charge here.
5+ A Day also have a range of fruit and vegetable recipes online, perfect for early learning services.
5+ A Day recipe card