As the seasons change, our Autumn Winter Menu, created in partnership with Tiny Tums from The Health Kick, is designed to bring warmth, colour, and nourishment to every meal. With colder, darker days ahead, children’s energy and nutritional needs change. Our new seasonal menu provides the perfect balance of comfort and nutrition to keep little ones thriving and germs at bay.
In this post, we’ll explore how seasonal nutrition can support immunity for young children, highlighting the menu changes we’re making, and show how this aligns with the new EYFS nutrition guidance.
As we move from summer into autumn, respiratory viruses often circulate more readily. Colder, drier weather and more time spent indoors can make transmission easier. With this in mind we are making sure our menu has been carefully designed to support children’s natural defences and provide the essential nutrients their immune systems need at this time of year.
A great example of this is the ‘Winter berry yogurt’ which the children really love as you can see on our recent World Food Day posts!
- Greek yogurt provides live cultures, or “friendly bacteria,” which help keep the gut microbiome balanced, this is a key part of a strong immune system.
- The natural fats also help children to absorb fat-soluble vitamins, such as A and D, which play vital roles in immune defence and healthy growth.
- Berries add natural sweetness along with vitamin C and antioxidants, to support the body’s ability to fight off winter bugs.
Together, this creamy and colourful second course offers a nourishing combination of probiotics, vitamins, and healthy fats, gently supporting gut health, immunity, and sustained energy, with no added sugar required.
Let’s look deeper into how our new menu supports immunity
What EYFS nutrition guidance says (and what’s changing)
From September 2025, the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework will require that providers follow the new Early Years Foundation Stage nutrition guidance. One of the main key points worth noting is to limit or avoid foods high in added sugar, avoiding unnecessary processed items.
We didn’t need to make any changes when this guidance came out as our menu has, not only met but exceeded these statutory expectations for some time, demonstrating that we are positioning ourselves at the forefront of best practice in early years nutrition.
Tips for families: Bringing seasonal nutrition home
- Batch cook & freeze: Make soups or stews with seasonal veg and portion them.
- Snack smart: Use carrot sticks, apple slices, hummus. Avoid sugary snack bars.
- Get children involved: Let them wash, chop, stir (with supervision). This will help increase the interest in eating.
- Salt & sugar awareness: Use herbs, spices, citrus, mild condiments instead of adding salt or sugar.
- Balance & variation across the week: Even if one day is less ideal, overall week still counts.
We’re incredibly excited to share this new menu and to guide children toward stronger immunity and lifelong healthy habits. Be sure to check out our Q&A with our head chef and Nutritional Therapist where they unpack more of the “why” behind each recipe and change.
Stay tuned… next week we’ll share our deeper thinking on why we’ve removed added sugar and how you can mirror that at home.