Wellness and Nutrition Program

Our on-site nutrition educator cooks all the meals and snacks and works hard to provide scratch-to-table, simple whole foods and to limit refined sugar and processed foods on our menu. We incorporate our menus into the nutrition lessons throughout the week. Some of the children’s favorite recipes include Blueberry Beet Muffins, Hawaiian Wrap (broccoli, carrot, chicken), Red Cabbage Quinoa Wraps, Roasted Corn and Avocado Wraps.

Persimmon Early Learning teaches the importance of fruits and vegetables by implementing fun, hands-on nutrition activities like gardening, cooking classes, taste-testings, field trips, farmer visits, and meals and snacks. Nutrition lessons are held twice per week in each classroom and are tailored to educate different age groups. These lessons are exploration and activity based, encouraging children to explore new foods and participate in cooking projects. Other activities incorporate the different food groups and learning where food comes from or how it grows. We also participate in Farm to ECE, so children have the opportunity to try locally grown foods. Our partners: Farm to ECE and CHOP 

The children are actively involved in gardening here at Persimmon Early Learning, as well as within our community when we visit local farms. Our outdoor spaces  incorporate garden beds and each year we plant a variety of beautiful flowers, tons of vegetables, and a few fruits. The children learn about the plant cycle starting in the spring when they plant seeds and seedlings provided by Boulder County Public Health’s Farm to ECE program and continue to help grow healthy and delicious fruits and vegetables until they are ready for harvest in the fall. They enjoy fresh produce from our gardens, as well as produce donated from local farms through the Farm to ECE program. When children are involved in the gardening process they are more likely to try and enjoy new healthy foods. In addition to healthy and tasty fruit and vegetables, we grow plants that are colorful and fun (and safe) to touch, to provide opportunities for sensory exploration for our infants and toddlers.

Every day we provide our toddlers and preschoolers with at least 30 minutes of structured physical activity. Fitness activities develop and improve motor skills, coordination, language and listening skills, physical ability, social skills, spatial awareness, and overall health and wellness. We also incorporate yoga and mindfulness into our daily program in order to support children developing self-regulation and social -emotional skills.

Our field trips expose children to new learning environments. These trips can include harvesting, planting, learning about the garden or farm, observing farm animals or bugs, and nutrition lessons. We love using these trips to show the kids where our food comes from! Past field trip destinations include Growing Gardens, Ollin Farms, Milk and Honey Farm, CU Museum of Natural History and local parks and Boulder Library visits. 

In addition to the physical activity classes and nutrition education we partner with many other teachers and organizations to create a fun and unique learning environment. These additional classes include music and drama classes, visits from Growing Gardens for more advanced nutrition classes and movement classes such as dance and sports .