What do we do about healthy nutrition?

Just like you, we place great value on healthy and varied nutrition. We introduce your child to different flavors, which is important for a healthy eating pattern. At most locations, a household staff member prepares a fresh, warm lunch every day. Where cooking is not done, the meal is either delivered or prepared by Kindergarden chefs at a central location and then distributed. And then we sit down at the table – always together, because seeing others eat encourages eating!

Healthy and varied

At Kindergarden, children enjoy healthy and varied food:

Seasonal vegetables and fruits
As sustainable and pure as possible
Healthy snacks like cucumber, bell pepper, and carrots
Meat and dairy? Not too much and always free-range or organic meat - in line with the guidelines of the Dutch Nutrition Center's 'De Schijf van Vijf'.

The convenience of a warm lunch

A fresh, warm meal at midday (for all children from one year old) is naturally healthy. Moreover, it is a great solution for you as a parent. After a busy workday, you can opt for an easy meal in the evening. Your child has already consumed a large part of their prescribed nutrition (including fruit and dairy) for the day. Therefore, a nutritious sandwich in the evening will suffice. Convenient, right?

Fresh vegetable snacks for the little ones

Every day we offer your child fresh fruit. In consultation with you, we also provide vegetable snacks when your child is ready for them. You don't need to bring these snacks yourself; we prepare them.

Homemade snacks for babies (from 4 months)

Coarsely pureed vegetable snacks such as cauliflower, green beans, carrots, and broccoli
One type of vegetable to get used to different flavors

Homemade snacks for babies (6-8 months)

Finely mashed vegetable snacks with 2 flavors, possibly supplemented with some potatoes, white rice, or pasta
The vegetable snacks become more filled and coarser in texture. Eventually, we supplement them with food from the warm lunch of that day. This creates a natural transition to the warm lunch.

Warm lunch from 1 year old

As many organic seasonal ingredients as possible that fit within responsible nutrition according to the Dutch Nutrition Center's 'De Schijf van Vijf'. We pay close attention to what children from 1 year old can eat and take that into account in the menu.

Seeing others eat, encourages you to eat

We eat together at the table with those children who are ready to eat independently. And do this at both low as well as high tables. This encourages contact between the children and offers them the space to imitate and help each other. This results in them becoming increasingly aware of their environment and their manners. Eating independently gives them a kick! Eating together means you belong in the group, and that’s also really good for their self-confidence.

...have a table top cupboard in every toddler (plus) group?

This way the older children can set the table themselves and we involve them in the meal time. In addition, we create more peace in the transition from playing to eating.
...let the children help?

Also involve the older children in preparing the snacks and fruit themselves? They get their own children's knife and board, and they help, for example, with cutting the fruit, which we then eat together.
...often have our own vegetable garden?

Have our own vegetable garden at many locations? By sowing and harvesting together, your child learns where fruit and vegetables come from and learns to eat consciously. For example, we process the zucchini and basil harvested by the children in the hot lunch of that day.

What is our way of working based on at our daycare centers?

Each child needs attention and guidance to develop. In ‘Wereldwijs’, our childcare program, we explain how we offer that attention and guidance and why we work like this. As we have developed, detailed, and recorded everything in a well-thought-out way, ‘Wereldwijs’ offers the perfect guidance for our childcare staff. This program ensures that, as parent, you know which development points we will be focusing on. In a nutshell, this involves providing an educational environment entirely aligned to your child’s experiences. We also provide a clear daily routine and optimal group structure.

Why horizontal age groups at Kindergarden childcare?

Did you know that a baby plays and learns with its whole body in a childcare environment? Preferably in a calm environment? And that infants need to burn energy to develop strength and coordination? And toddlers? Yes, they mainly want to do everything by themselves. They learn to share through play and gradually start to understand their own responsibilities. In a nutshell: everything in every child’s world makes an impression – and everything also has influence. And that’s why our childcare locations use horizontal groups.