Nourishing Little Minds -ECEC

Nourishing Little Minds^® combines early childhood literacy with experiential play-based learning to enrich children’s awareness, interest, and enjoyment of healthy food.

Nourishing Little Minds in the Early Childhood setting

Professional development for ACT early childhood educators

Are you an early childhood educator working with children aged 0-5years?

The Nourishing Little Minds (NLM) program is a valuable opportunity for early childhood educators to support children in building a positive relationship with food. This workshop is designed especially for educators in early childhood education services or family daycare settings and has been shown to improve children’s attitudes towards healthy foods and increase their willingness to try new foods.

By participating in our workshop, you will:

• receive a two-hour professional development session delivered by our experts in child nutrition
• gain digital access to our NLM Educator Manual featuring purpose-designed activities, songs, recipes, parent resources and a detailed guide linking each aspect to the EYLF outcomes to assist in programming
• receive a specially selected storybook from our preferred list of titles
• make a lasting impact on the health and well-being of the children in your care.

What is Nourishing Little Minds all about?

The Nourishing Little Minds (NLM) program recognises the important role that early childhood educators play in helping children to develop healthy eating habits. Through the relationships that you form, you can encourage children to engage in play-based learning experiences with healthy foods. This can help to build familiarity, confidence, and food literacy in young children.

Nourishing Little Minds (NLM) in Early Childhood supports early childhood educators to build a positive eating culture and to promote healthy eating behaviors in children. Aligned with the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) and the National Quality Standards (NQS), our program empowers children to become confident food explorers, while building healthy habits for life!

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) services are ideally placed to increase children’s awareness, interest, and enjoyment of healthy food by helping improve children’s familiarity with such food through play and learning experiences.

Want to learn more? Click here to listen to ABC Canberra radio interview with Executive Officer and dietitian Leanne Elliston on 29 June 2022.

This program provides insights on how food-based experiences can be a useful strategy in influencing children’s eating behaviour.

Supported by the ACT Government under the ACT Healthy Canberra Grants program