Early Years

Adventures in Foodland

Ideas for making food fun from an early age

Cover of Adventures in Foodland: Food and Facts. A close-up photograph of a small, happy child whose cheeks are covered in food after eating.

Good nutrition gives children the best start in life. This has been recognised in successive Scottish health reports since the publication of The Scottish Diet in 1993. Children's health in early years can influence their health all through life.

The positive role of childcare has grown in importance and childcarers are key to helping children develop healthy habits by influencing a child's eating, dental care and activity habits. Childcare staff can help children develop appreciation for a wide variety of foods, encourage active play and help them avoid sugary foods that harm teeth.

Adventures in Foodland has been developed by Health Scotland (formerly HEBS) and other key partners, as a comprehensive guide to help childcarers encourage young children to develop a taste for healthy eating, promote oral health and become more physically active. The pack has three different elements:

Cover of 'Adventures in Foodland: Making it Work'. A close-up photograph of a small, happy child whose cheeks are covered in food after eating.
  1. Food and Facts: a practical information guide on nutrition, oral health and physical activity
  2. Activities: building on this information by introducing a range of food and fun activities to involve children and their carers
  3. Making it Work for You: a training booklet to help childcarers get the most out of the pack or for those who wish to deliver group training sessions on the pack. 

Health Scotland will be distributing this pack to childminders, private and local authority nurseries and playgroups as well as other relevant professionals.

Health Scotland is currently running a limited number of Train the Trainers sessions for trainers on the use of Adventures in Foodland who will in turn deliver local workshops for childcarers in the future.

The training day is aimed at people with a training remit in pre-school settings. This could include participants from voluntary organisations, childcare partnerships, pre-school settings, and those who would like to increase their knowledge of this resource.

For further information, please see Health Scotland's Courses and Conferences Guide (PDF).

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Updated on: 10 October 2008 The LTS Online Service is funded by the Scottish Government.