‘The party has started, as soon as the Smaaksafari suitcase arrives, says pedagogical assistant Hayedeh Sarrafzedeh. ‘Each time the children are so eager to find out which vegetable is inside. Is it the carrot, the sweet potato, or the beetroot? Once they’ve found out, we will look, feel, smell, and of course taste the vegetable for two weeks in a row. The suitcase consists of fun activities, such as exercise games, trial lessons, recipes, and craft tips. We use these to show the children everything you can do and make with the vegetables.
Who knows what it is
We first ask the children whether they know what vegetable it is. This often provides funny moments, like the Smaaksafari with carrot. A little two-year-old girl said that carrots from a bag are for people and carrots with green on top are for rabbits. That there are also purple and yellow carrots, was very hard to believe. These were not carrots.
On repeat
‘You can tell that the children become more familiar with the vegetables over the course of the week and therefore dare to taste them. This is because we offer the vegetables in different ways and use a lot of repetition. We use them for crafting (think of stamping with sweet potato), we tell stories about it, play games with it (make a carrot trail for example), or cook together with it.
Do it yourself
‘The beetroot apple salad that we made together was a great success. Everyone wanted to join in. The children were allowed to cut the beetroots and apple pieces and mix them with raisins. In the end, everyone wanted to taste it. This way, the children not only get to know the vegetables, but we also involve them in the final result. And: They know what they are eating.
A bite to eat
‘We always have a warm meal in the afternoon, packed with vegetables, from Madaga. The kids can snack on raw food, in between meals, such as cucumber and pepper pieces. When the Smaaksafari suitcase arrives, we put something on the table with the relevant vegetables. The particular vegetable will be on the table, so the children can see what the meal was made of. We make sure that our meals together are fun and nothing is forced. If they don’t want to eat something, we will try again next time. It does make me proud when they do give some things a try.’
‘Knack’ says the carrot
‘My son has done the Smaaksafari with the carrot. And now he wants – just like what was shown in the group – to break all the vegetables in half to hear if they also say ‘knack’, just like the carrot. That is how the Smaaksafari also works at home and the children discover fruit and vegetables on their own. We get lots of lovely comments from parents if they made, for example, a carrot cake together (a recipe from the suitcase). And how they love that their child eats vegetables at daycare.’
Set an example
Hayedeh Sarrafzedeh: ‘The Smaaksafari suitcase is a fun and playful way to let children discover vegetables – and eventually taste them. I am so happy that I’m able to contribute to this. It is important to show your enthusiasm and give the children, who need it, time. Often a few of them will find it scary to taste something. If you say, “Shall I try first?” And then shout; “Yummm that’s nice!” They want to try it as well. And that gives me a good feeling.