Sapere Method
http://sapere.ebaia.com/
Elevator Pitch:
Schools in Finland use the Sapere Method to teach children about nutrition. Children play games that involve tasting all kinds of vegetables, they help prepare meals in the mini-kitchen and they even dress up as vegetables.
Founder:
Jacques Puisais, a French chemist and ethnologist
Key ideas:
Students are also encouraged to use all five senses to learn about food and food preparation. Nearly 3,500 pre-school teachers in Finland have been trained to use the Sapere Method in their day care centres. In many towns it is a part of the pre-school curriculum.
The Sapere method, which combines knowledge and first-hand experience, is one of the best methods in preventing the development of bad eating habits, when applied to young children.
By its application in schools, it also has the advantage of being able to influence all children; and not only those whose parents are already involved in the struggle to be healthy, as is the case with many other methods.
Worth Reading/Watching:
Sapere in Finland (YouTube, 2012)
Discovering the world of food through the senses: the Sapere method as a support to nutrition and food education in day care (in Finnish, PDF)