Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/fostering-positive-relationships--with-food-in-early-childhood/5027233/
*Photos can be found in the pdf version of this article.
Preschool is a unique opportunity for children to experience the joy of food, outside of the home. Social and emotional experiences are the hallmark of our work in preschool, and food and eating are just as an important a social event as learning to share and talking about feelings (Mortlock, 2015).
At the Henry Frost Children’s Program in Belmont, Massachusettes, we think about food and eating as a natural part of our daily life in school. We believe that food experiences should receive just as much consideration as classroom materials, books, and activities. Food preparation and food traditions are interwoven throughout our day as part of our curriculum planning and have become a staple to our school experience for the entire community.
In this article we will focus on four specific strategies we use to foster positive relationships with food in our school: the food preparation area, the snack table, lunch table traditions, and the farm-to-table experience. Our goals in the classroom are simple: to help young children develop a healthy understanding of what their body needs to be healthy, learn appropriate table manners, understand where food resources come from and ...