QUEEN OF HEARTS
PRIVATE NURSERY SCHOOLS
Nutrition, Health and Food Hygiene
At Queen of Hearts Nursery School we love to enable and inspire healthy eating. Our menu features mouth-watering, globally inspired dishes that children love, and is completely peanut and tree nut free.
Chef Shawn, Chef Michael and Jennifer Harris, our Registered Holistic Nutritionist, collaborate for the benefit of our children, staff and families as they prepare the menus, introducing tried and tested recipes, investigating any challenges children may have with food, working with more sustainable and local ingredients and have our children engage in their diet.
It is not uncommon for children to grow into picky eaters or not willing to try new foods. We are excited to work with Jen investigating ways to provide your child with the right balance and variety of nutrients with the proper nourishment to fuel them into their adulthood. Your child’s nutrition journey is different from everyone else’s and we hope to be able to build on their love of food throughout their time with Queen of Hearts.
Fresh and Tasty
Our menu changes with every season to ensure we’re maximizing variety on the plate! Who doesn’t love digging into crisp asparagus in May and June or juicy strawberries in July or those wonderful delicious apples and pears in the fall. Each month we offer a variety of globally and locally inspired dishes to expand the palates of our learning eaters!
What better way to teach our children than seeing and tasting bok choy, fiddleheads, dragon fruit and other amazing foods and discovering how we can use that ingredient? Making eating healthy food fun!
It’s vitally important at an early age to let children taste the vast array of ingredients we have and how delicious and healthy it can be.
Queen of Hearts Cooking Club
Children love to have fun and be creative and we have introduced a Queen of Hearts Cooking Club to help cultivate each child’s love for the kitchen. This gives children practical cooking skills to help infuse that passion for all things culinary, introducing exciting ingredients, cooking techniques and tasting experiences. We use vegetables and fruits both local and home grown at Queen of Hearts where possible. We encourage children to embrace simple recipes and cooking challenges enhancing their own skills, development and enjoyment. Building blocks for happy, healthy children!
Globally Inspired
We are proud to create a menu that celebrates cultural diversity. As adults, we need to remind ourselves that culturally adventurous foods are enjoyed by children everyday around the world. To us, serving a multicultural menu is about setting our children up to develop a taste for different foods and flavours, while being mindful to balance both the familiar and the new. Our menu includes recipes from all over the world. We don’t just break bread together …we break pita, focaccia and tortilla!
Family Style Lunch
It is vitally important for Queen of Hearts that we meet as a family around the table, adhering to good manners and respect for our friends, teachers and food. Unless a child has an allergy or dietary restriction, all children and teachers enjoy the same menu. At Queen of Hearts Nursery School we put a little of everything on each child’s plate to help develop familiarity for new flavours. We encourage a “two-bite rule”; however children will never be forced to eat anything and will not go hungry. Queen of Hearts children are gently encouraged to invigorate their senses and savour the delicious food!