Daycare Meals: Dietary Essentials to Keep in Mind

If you’re a parent of a toddler or a preschooler who devotedly packs lunches every day, you are awesome!

These lunches are the most tiring to pack; most things need to be soft and small, so you spend a lot of time steaming or chopping food items. It can get quite challenging to fiddle with snack options and ensure your child is getting the proper nutrients that their body needs for growth, but the good news is, we’ve got you covered.

While you have the Parents to help you decide on the eleven must-eat nutrients for your child, you will need expert advice to help you with dietary essentials to keep in mind.

We have a list of daycare meal ideas for your kid's growth and development that's both healthy and easy and will help you pack fast (until these kiddos can pack for themselves).

Let’s take a look:

1. Protein, Fruits, and Vegetables

Building a healthy and balanced diet for toddlers and preschoolers is essential. Eating a variety of food keeps their meals exciting and tasty. It is also one of the key ways to ensure your little ones are getting the protein, fruits, and vegetables they need.

You can mix things up to ensure their smile stays constant while opening their lunch boxes:

- Serve delicious fruit bowls with fruits shaped differently every day

- Potato, corn, baked kale, or zucchini chips

- Steam/boiled or scrambled eggs

- Dry fruits such as sliced almonds, raisins, and cranberries

Keep in mind toddlers and preschoolers (under the age of five) need to be given food that is the correct size. It is best to be alert of the choking hazards for children.

Safety Tip: It is best to download our hand-washing poster so your child knows the importance of hygiene.

2. Dairy

Dairy foods help increase your toddler and preschoolers' calcium intake. It is essential for their teeth, muscles, and bones. At such a young age, your child’s body requires all the calcium it can get. Undoubtedly, It is one of the key dietary essentials to keep in mind.

Here’s how you can boost your daily calcium intake:

- One cup of their favorite fruit and yogurt

- One cup of ice cream or frozen yogurt

- Natural cheese such as Swiss or cheddar

- One cup of milk (you can add in any powered mix for an extra calcium kick)

3. Experimenting with Daycare Meals

As toddlers and preschoolers grow, they wish to do things independently. You can motivate them to create their snack bowls once a week. It would be a fun activity for them and give them the basic know-how of mixing dietary essentials.

Here are some ideas:

● Permitting your toddlers to create their yogurt bowls with nuts, dried food, and their favorite granola

● For preschoolers, you can let them pick their favorite toppings for pizzas, tacos, sandwiches, or pita

You can share weekly menus with school teachers or vice versa. That way, both can be on the same page, and parents can send prepared lunch boxes (if required).

Abbott Elementary suggests that consuming the wrong food and beverage can result in multiple trips to the bathroom. You don’t want this happening to your child in a daycare setting.

Safety Tip: As parents, it is essential to educate the daycare providers all about your child. You can fill in this “Get to Know the Child” survey to help them learn all about your child’s food allergies. The information can reduce snack time risks at your daycare.

Sending Daycare Meals That A Treat to Have!

Food time is by far the best time for toddlers and preschoolers. However, they have their favorites. And since every child has specific food preferences, these daycare meals: dietary essentials to keep in mind will help you immensely.

You can easily prepare wholesome meals for your tiny tots. If you need more advice, join our community.

We share one-on-one support and group coaching to give you a head start on daycare routines. Our practical tips and personalized support can stop young ones from waging a food war at your center.

Get in touch today for further information.