Healthy Eating

Healthy Chicken and Vegetables made at Wyoming Early Learning Centre

At Learn and Laugh, we promote healthy eating by providing nutritious meals throughout the day. Our qualified cooks plan and adapt weekly menus to support the daily requirements for children aged 0-6 years which include considerations for allergies, intolerances and religious beliefs. Healthy Eating is a large part of our education with children and we use other sources for our learning including Munch N Move resources and workshops, Healthy Harold visits and Little People Nutrition.

Some of the ways we introduce healthy eating into our program is by providing cooking experiences that allow children to participate in the collection of ingredients, the preparation of the meal and of course the enjoyment of eating whilst discussing the importance of trying different foods and meeting our daily dietary requirements. Another way we promote healthy eating is through planting many different fruits, herbs and vegetables that can be cared for by the children and picked when ready to add to our cooking. Other daily activities include health education, books and felt stories, role play areas including home corner, shopping, restaurants, etc.

Learning the value of gardening at Lewisham Learning Centre

Physical Activity

Getting up and moving with the children is extremely important each and every day. At Learn and Laugh we follow the Munch n Move guidelines that outline daily physical requirements for children to be outdoors and partake in physical activity. We work with members within our community to help promote being active and developing active skills that help us in later life. Some of the companies we work with include Kids Yoga, Ready Steady Go and Little Kickers.

Healthy Outdoor play in (top) Lewisham and (bottom) Wyoming Early Learning Centre

For a child to attend an early childhood service, it is the best time to develop and practice healthy habits around eating and keeping active. Munch n Move is a NSW Health initiative that many early childcare services follow. Their main focus for children between birth – 5 years old is to keep active, eat healthy and limit screen time. We follow these key messages at Learn and Laugh and use resources to help spread the key messages to families to follow at home.