Nutrition

Pipitea has an in-house cook who provides delicious and nutritious kai for all our tamariki. Kai is provided at morning tea, lunch and afternoon kai. A tea ritual is offered on arrival at Pipitea for tamariki in the Butterfly room and a late afternoon snack of fresh fruit is also offered to all tamariki. Tamariki also participate in “kai creator” once a week, where a recipe is followed during the day to create the afternoon kai snack.

An example of a weekly menu is below:

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Morning kai	Fruit Salad and yoghurt	Muffin Splits with grilled cheese	Pikelets	Rice Cakes with cheese and tomato	Weetbix
Lunch	Macaroni Cheese with Cannellini Beans	Spiced Lamb and Lentils	Sweet Potato and Salmon Fishcakes	Meatloaf Magic	Chicken and Rice one Pot Dinner
Afternoon kai	Scones	Kai Creator	Cream Cheese and Bean Dip	Munch & Crunch Platter	Apple Cinnamon Slice

We have achieved the Pā – Harakeke Award Healthy Heart Gold Award which is the highest award possible with the Heart Foundation. This recognises that Pipitea is a flourishing nutritional and physically active environment, the impact of which extends beyond the immediate setting into the wider community.

Food allergies are accommodated, with a dedicated food plan discussed for any child with a food allergy. Pipitea is a nut-free centre.

Whānau are welcome to breast feed at Pipitea at any time. Bottles of formula or expressed breast milk are kept in a dedicated fridge in the Caterpillar room. Tins of formula may also be stored at Pipitea.