 | Always have children wash hands before and after snacks and meals. |
| Observe safe food preparation and handling practices. |
| Include items from the four major food groups: vegetables and fruits,
cereals and breads, milk products and milk equivalents, and meat and meat
substitutes. |
| Allow enough time for snacks and meals so that children don’t feel
rushed. |
| Serve snacks and meals at regularly scheduled times. |
| Serve a variety of textures, colors, and temperatures of food. |
| Have the children take part in food preparation, which builds skills in
many areas such as math, science, language, and social studies. |
| Let children take part in serving the food (e.g., passing around a
basket of crackers, or carrying a tray of fruit to a table). |
| Serve food from a diversity of cultures, especially those of children
in the program. |
| Serve small portions, particularly if it’s a new or unfamiliar food. |
| For infants, talk to parents about daily feeding schedules, formula or
breast milk preparation, and when and how to introduce solid food. |
| Talk to parents about any allergies or special diets their children may
have. It’s helpful to keep a list posted in the eating area for staff
reference. Some allergic reactions can be very severe, so attentiveness is
important. |
| To prevent choking, do not serve popcorn, nuts, raisins, grapes, raw
carrots, or hot dogs (unless cut up into half-inch pieces) to children under
the age of five. |
| Do not use an excess of sugar or salt when preparing any food. |
| Post
your snack and meal menus on your program’s main bulletin board and
website.
|
