Hello Choklits Community,
Welcome to spring 2021! There’s lots happening this season and I’m really looking forward to many activities with the children as this Melbourne weather begins to warm again.
Throughout spring this year we will be focusing on food textures. Taste, as strange as it may first sound, is not the only way we learn to identify and enjoy food. Taking something simple like a banana, peeling it and eating it straight from the skin is a different experience to blending it into a paste or smoothie and serving it in a bowl, something that our younger children often prefer to eat. The same fruit when served in different ways offers a different experience.
There are pretty obviously practical reasons to eat the same food in different ways, and age is one of them. Particularly at a very young age, food served in different ways also offers valuable learning experiences. Is it the food you do and don’t like, or, is it the way it’s prepared?
Here’s an example, a young child has decided very early in life they don’t like bananas. Then they start kindergarten and one of their friends convinces them to try the fresh banana they’ve just peeled. And, they love it. It wasn’t that they didn’t like the banana, it was that they didn’t like it when mashed.
This brings us back to texture.
During spring I will be working with the children to help them to start to identify food by texture. How the different food feels in their hands, how it feels in their mouths and the enjoyment they either do, or don’t, identify with.
Trying different foods, handling them and discussing your findings in a group setting is also a great activity that directly helps develop fine motor skills and even emotional intelligence. We’ll be facilitating lots of practical experiences throughout spring which will help the children try foods prepared in different ways and with different textures.
As for my new chef outfit, I’m just excited about the change so feel free to send compliments, haha!
Lastly, I’m hoping our situation improves and we get some relief from these Victorian covid lockdowns sometime soon because I must say I’m really missing the daily conversations and seeing you all here at Choklits. If you’ve got any questions about our menu or any questions to do with food, please connect with me through the Choklits Facebook and Instagram accounts and I’ll be happy to respond to any messages or post comments. I may even share a few things live from the kitchen over the coming weeks so make sure you have your notifications turned on.
Please enjoy our 2021 spring menu…
Helen Rooney
Choklits Chef, Choklits Child Care Centre
Our Centres
(03) 9879 5888