Food, cooking and healthy eating at the heart of the Mulberry Bush

June 28, 2018 1:13 pm

Nursery cook Sinead Bradshaw talks about her passion for cooking with children and educating them about good food and healthy eating. 

"Promoting healthy eating and cooking is at the heart of the Mulberry Bush ethos. This is one of the principle reasons that I was keen to join the company as it is entirely in line with my beliefs. I feel that we have a unique opportunity caring for such young children to establish excellent habits with regards food and lifestyle that can help set the foundations for their future health and wellbeing.

I believe cooking with the children provides practical experience with many essential skills such as reading, communication, following direction, measuring and math skills. It will help build basic skills, encourages a more adventurous palate while helping children explore their senses and is lots of fun!

Cooking with children is fun experience for all! They get the joy of creating a dish and eating it. Children use all of their senses while cooking and letting them cook helps them be more comfortable with food and can make them healthier eaters. Cooking together is a fun way to expose children to new foods and help picky eaters feel comfortable trying new foods.

It is also a great chance to talk to children about where their food comes from and the origins of different dishes. In this way we can help even very young children get a literal flavour of the world beyond the nursery.

At the Mulberry Bush the kitchen is the heart of the nursery and this symbolises the passion we have for food.  Food has always been a passion of mine and helping children learn about food and making cooking fun and exciting is major part of my job.

My aim at the Mulberry Bush is to make cooking exciting and fun for all age groups to enjoy. I will be doing cooking with children once a week especially focusing on all the fun we can have with vegetables. Already a favourite at our Bitterne Park nursery  is our chocolate and courgette cake, even yummy cakes can be packed with vegetables! I would also like to involve the children in the helping grow our very own herb garden and vegetable patch which is a great way to get children to try new foods! There is  such a sense in pride and achievement that the children love in growing their own food and tasting what they have grown!"

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