Balanced Diet

StartSmart Pilot School : HKYWCA Athena Kindergarten

《Children Like Eating Beans!》
Be a cook - no more fussy eating

Stage 1: Introduction

Most children prefer savoury or sugary food such as chips, sweets, biscuits or sweet beverages. These wants are usually satisfied by their parents. Meanwhile, some kids refuse to eat certain types of food for a number of reasons, including personal preference, cooking method, taste and texture of the food, etc. That having been said, parents and teachers should never resort to draconian measures even if they want to correct the eating habits of their children as this may have adverse effects.

Fussy eating is common in early childhood. How shall we encourage children to eat something they don’t like? The school can first teach pupils things like the different food types along the Food Pyramid. Then through interesting teaching activities and the healthy lunch menus at school, children can have the opportunities to try various kinds of healthy food. They will then bring the message home.

Teachers of HKYWCA Athena Kindergarten understand that they should practise what they preach. Since the implementation of the Pilot Project, the school has been providing interactive learning activities like cooking demonstration, in which teachers made healthy snacks together with pupils. They mix the ‘unpopular’ ingredients like vegetables with the more popular ones like eggs, in the hope that pupils would be interested in eating something which was not too appealing to them before. Some kids even ask their parents to cook vegetables at home. Besides, talks and parent-child activities are organised whereby parents and kids can practise health ideals together and achieve child health.

Stage 2: Start Smart!

Live: Be a Smart Eater

Objective: To help children distinguish healthy foods from unhealthy ones during the game.

Time: 20 to 25 minutes

Materials: Obstacles (with consideration for children’s age), different food models.

Let’s GO!

1. Divide the class into 2 groups and do warm-up exercise.
   
   
2. One by one, have the children set off from the starting point and pick up models of healthy food while passing the obstacles. They place the models at the destination. The group which completes the game first wins.

Live: Be a Smart Cook

Objective: Children have to do simple cooking and try a variety of healthy foods; this is to help them develop an appropriate dietary habit.

Time: 20 minutes

Materials: Food Party Theme Book, a ‘mystery bag’, kitchenware and cooking utensils.

Ingredients: Raw eggs, boiled eggs, assorted beans and a little oil.

Let’s GO!

1. The teacher first invites the children to touch the ‘mystery bag’ and guess what is inside.
   
   
2. Then the teacher takes the eggs out of the bag and asks the children: what is the shape of an egg? How do you feel when you touch it? What is inside an egg?
   
   
3. The teacher shells and cuts up the boiled egg. Children have to describe its shape.
   
   
4. Children are also asked to share their experience of eating eggs: Who does the cooking at home? How? And how do you eat them?
   
   
5. Afterwards, the teacher will break a raw egg. Children have to observe and tell the difference between a raw one and a boiled one.
   
   
6. The teacher shows the Food Party Theme Book and explains different cooking methods. Then he/she will demonstrate how to make stir-fried beans and eggs. Children can help whisk the eggs or sprinkle the beans into the mixture.
   
   
7. The teacher explains about the high nutritional values of eggs and warns about over-consumption.
   
   
8. Cook the dish with just a little oil. Children can try the dish later.