A childcare centre is teaching classes on how to peel oranges, open cling-wrapped sandwiches and remove yoghurt lids in a push for kids to learn simple life-skills.
Brisbane establishment Timber Tots Child Care is hosting the lessons for three- and four-year-olds after a nearby primary school warned many school-age children are not confident with ‘independent eating’, the Courier Mail reports.
According to teachers, many kids become overwhelmed and ‘frustrated’ when tasked with opening complicated packaging during lunchtime.
One Brisbane childcare centre is hosting classes to teach children how to properly open their lunches (stock image)
According to teachers, kids become overwhelmed and ‘frustrated’ when tasked with opening complicated packaging during lunchtime (stock image)
‘Parents pack lunches and kids rarely have any contact with zip locked bags, clingwrap or fruits that need to be peeled,’ Jana Walker, director of Timber Tots Child Care told the publication.
‘When they get to school it can be very frustrating for them when they are left wrangling with their tub of yoghurt.’
The classes will instruct children on how to properly open their lunches without spills, providing them with invaluable fine motor skills to last their schooling careers.
It comes after the childcare centre was warned by a fellow Brisbane school that many of its older pupils were skipping lunch because the unwrapping process was simply too difficult.
‘Parents pack lunches and kids rarely have any contact with zip locked bags, clingwrap or fruits that need to be peeled,’ Jana Walker, director of Timber Tots Child Care told the publication
Teachers suggest parents put school lunches in bento-box style lunch boxes instead (stock image)
A primary school in Brisbane warned many of its pupils were skipping lunch because they struggled to open packaging (stock image)
Parents have also been advised to ‘avoid packaging entirely’ in some instances by serving their children’s lunches in bento-style boxes with easy-to-access compartments.
Early childhood educator Yass Haghighi said parents who are guilty of over-wrapping foods or buying complex lunchboxes can be inadvertently hurting their child’s self-confidence.
‘Lunch boxes that are hard to open, you set your child for constant failure, and they will lose their confidence to give it a go,’ Yass said.
‘Lunch boxes with different compartments are best. These eliminate packaging and promote easy access by children.’
Early childhood educator Yass Haghighi says parents who are guilty of over-wrapping foods or buying complex lunchboxes can be inadvertently hurting their child’s self-confidence