06 Dec Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program
The Kitchen Garden Early Years Project
In 2017 the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation and The Ian Potter Foundation came together to explore how best to bring pleasurable food education to the babies, tots and toddlers of Victoria. In partnership with the Moreland Council, we are excited to be apart of The Kitchen Garden Early Years Project where we focus on bringing fun, hands-on cooking and gardening to very young children. Sema our cook have been cooking fresh produce from our garden, cooking with the children in our ‘Mini Chef Program’ and reviewing fresh recipes into our menu planning.
Mini Chef Program is a great opportunity for the children to learn about health and nutrition as well as gaining a further sense of belonging at Dawson Street, by contributing to meal preparation and learning how the food that they eat here each day is prepared. The children also often get to harvest the vegetables from our own garden, gaining a further understanding of how food grows and the process leading up to their meals.
The children are developing a sense of belonging to groups and communities and an understanding of the reciprocal rights and responsibilities necessary for active community participation. This is evident for example when the begin to understand different ways of contributing through play and projects and demonstrate a sense of belonging and comfort in their environments (Early Years Learning Framework, p.29).
Keep and eye on this space on what the children have been up to as we progress into this project.