Food Theme @ Stella's Kindergarten

Stella’s teachers virtually spent the whole of last term discussing healthy eating with the children. Among many things, they sang about food, did artwork on food, heard stories about food, talked about food, grew some vegetables, planned and held a morning tea for a Father’s Day celebration, and had lunch at a fancy restaurant. On some days, even the outdoor activities had a food theme. Here are a couple more of things they did.

The teachers supported the children in planning a morning tea for the fathers. The children chose a simple menu (including pancakes) and with the help of their teachers, a list was made of all required ingredients and equipment. To ensure smooth operation on the day, the children had plenty of practice leading up to the special morning tea. They even made trips in small groups to the local supermarket to get part of the ingredients required. On that special morning, Stella’s parents accompanied her to Kindergarten. They were very proud of her. She cooked them both pancakes and served them with cream and blueberry sauce. The little chef didn’t learn to do all that at Kindergarten. She already had plenty of simple cooking experiences at home with a woman she sees at least twice a week.

At the end of term, Stella and her classmates were all invited to lunch at a fancy restaurant. The parents of one of the little girls in her class runs a popular restaurant and they offered the children and their teachers a special grown-up experience of eating out in a slightly more formal setting. The experience was not free but the cost for each person was kept affordable so that everyone could participate. Because the venue was a restaurant, each child was expected to be accompanied by an adult. Stella went with her mum. Apparently, around half of the children in her group turned up. A few children did sign up but didn’t turn up on the day. Stella’s mum and dad had dined at that restaurant in the past and both said the food there was not bad. They have never taken Stella to that restaurant. They weren’t sure if she was mature enough to handle ‘proper’ a restaurant at her age. So far they have only taken her out for lunch at casual cafes that are child friendly. I think they also took her to a Chinese restaurant in China Town earlier this year when she saw the noisy lion dance. I asked Stella if she enjoyed having lunch at her friend’s restaurant. She told me that she really liked the prawns. I thought the restaurant or her friends’ parents were very generous to include seafood on the menu. She also told me that they got to take a peek of the busy kitchen and met the chef when they first got there. Stella’s mum said that this was only possible because the group got there well before the mad lunch rush. The chef came out to greet the children and then the mum of Stella’s friend (assisted by one teacher) took the children in small groups of three to take a peek at the kitchen. The lunch went quite smoothly. The children were better behaved than expected. Apparently, only one glass was broken when someone accidentally knocked it over the table.

It is wonderful for Stella to be taught by such dedicated teachers. This wasn’t the first time they extended the children’s education beyond the Kindergarten grounds. At the start of every term they talk to the children, stimulating them to generate ideas that they can all look deeper into. The Food theme came about in the first week of last term when the children talked about the food in their lunch boxes. On one of these discussions, food producers were mentioned and that led the children back to their visit to the children’s farm in the previous term. It is obvious that the teachers were trying to tie the children’s previous knowledge to their discussions. We, the parents (nanny, grandparents or other carers), were kept informed via casual chats with the teachers, newsletters and the child’s diary. Without that, Stella also gave us daily updates to keep track of what she and her friends had been up to. She can be quite a little journalist.