In honour of March being Nutrition Month, our first blog post will be on nutrition! If you serve food to children at your childcare or if you are parent reading this trying to prepare food for lunches and snacks, we understand menu planning can get stressful trying to ensure each child is getting a variety of food while eating a healthy, balanced meal. As a childcare supervisor, you may have the added pressure of meeting AQI guidelines.

5 Elements to Create Healthy Meals and Snacks for Children:

1. Add a beverage with each meal or snack: Give the option of water or milk (at least 2% or whole milk), as young children can benefit from the added milk fat. 100% fruit juice can be offered at one snack time.
2. Include a protein such as eggs, chicken, tofu, fish, lentils, roasted chickpeas, hummus, seeds, yogurt, ground beef, or ground turkey).
3. Include a healthy fat such as hard-boiled eggs, roasted chickpeas in olive oil, 75% or more dark chocolate, nut-free granola with cacao nibs, nut-free trail mix with coconut shreds. Protein and healthy fats can often overlap and are sometimes found in the same food.
4. Add a whole-grain to the meal or snack such as whole-wheat bread, whole-wheat pita, whole-grain crackers, brown rice, quinoa, or oatmeal.
5. Lastly, Fruits and Vegetables! The goal should be to try and get at least 1 vegetable or fruit in each meal or snack.

8 morning and afternoon snack recommendations for childcare menus that feature at least 3 food groups:

1. Apples with sunflower butter and whole-grain crackers
2. Greek yogurt with berries and nut-free granola
3. Nut-free trail mix with seeds and pears and a glass of milk
4. Hummus, carrot sticks, and whole-wheat pita pieces or pita chips
5. “Ants on a log” (Celery sticks with sunflower butter and raisins) and a glass of milk
6. 100% fruit frozen yogurt with granola 
7. Cheese, whole-grain crackers, and apple slices
8. Broccoli and carrots, ranch dip, Ritz crackers and sunflower or sesame butter

Are you thinking that this will not work because the kids don't eat vegetables? Using visuals and toys to help familiarize kids with vegetables (and other foods) can help them become curious about what the food tastes like. If they recognize the food on the menu that is being offered to them during meal or snack time, they may be more inclined to try the "new" food. 

Visuals to help teach kids about good nutrition, healthy foods, and vegetables include: 

Puzzles

Play food sets

Sensory Stones

Books for Circle Time

Explore our entire Nutrition Month Collection here. 

Nutrition recommendations provided by Dr. Suhani Shah, Naturopathic Doctor | Acacia Integrative Wellness Clinic