Celebrations / rewards and food

Celebrations/rewards and food

When food is provided at a celebration/event, it is best to continue adhering to the Eat Better Start Better government guidance. To encourage a healthy relationship with food, it is a good idea not to use food to celebrate effort or success, or as a reward for finishing vegetables. This can lead to children valuing the cake/treat and not the veggies/good behaviour. Celebrate with high fives, hugs, sticker charts, or first pick at story time.

Celebrations and events can be a tricky time to navigate when you are trying to reduce the amount of foods that are high in fat, salt, and sugar in your setting.

Cultural celebrations and events can be a fun way of introducing new foods at mealtimes, such as pumpkin soup at Halloween or baked samosas at Diwali. Celebrations/events can be marked in through other activities such as decorating the setting for a birthday meal, games, crafts, songs, and stories that only come out at events. More suggestions on how to celebrate without a focus on food can be found in the link below.