Freshly Cooked in Our Own Kitchen: Kindergarten Meals at TIMS

Why kindergarten food matters more than you might think

When parents visit a kindergarten, they usually look first at the classrooms, the groups and the teachers. Questions about food often come later. Yet children in full-day care spend a large part of their day at kindergarten, and with a morning snack, a warm lunch and an afternoon snack they eat a big share of their daily food there.

Good food gives children energy for learning, movement and play. Shared meals are also learning moments: children practise independence by setting the table themselves, table manners, conversation and sharing. How a kindergarten organises its meals therefore says a lot about its everyday approach to children.

Our own kitchen instead of catering

We have a fully equipped onsite kitchen and our own dedicated school chef, who cooks fresh on the premises every single day, preparing breakfast, lunch and afternoon snacks.

Because everything is made fresh each day, the menu can follow the seasons and use whatever is freshest and best. Wherever possible, our chef uses organic (Bio) ingredients.

From the school garden to the table

What makes food at TIMS special starts outdoors: we have our own vegetable garden. The children plant seasonal vegetables such as potatoes and fruits such as strawberries. They water and look after them, and finally harvest them themselves. They bring the harvest to the kitchen, and our chef turns it into their lunches. Sometimes they help the chef, or prepare small snacks such as vegetable pancakes with their teachers in their classrooms.

This garden-to-table connection has real educational value. Children see where food comes from, how long things take to grow and how much care they need. A child who has grown a plant often tries its vegetables with a very different curiosity. Along the way, children develop a natural appreciation for fresh, healthy food and a first understanding of sustainability.

The weekly menu: transparency for parents

Parents want to know what their child eats at lunchtime, whether to avoid cooking the same dish in the evening or simply to talk about it together. That is why TIMS publishes the current weekly menu on our Food & Wellbeing page. It is also available there as a downloadable PDF and in several languages, so families who have just moved to Germany can read it easily.

What a mealtime at TIMS looks like

In a Montessori setting, meals are not just a box to tick. They are part of learning. Children take part in age-appropriate ways:

• Setting up: carrying plates, cups and cutlery to their places, and bringing the food from the kitchen into the classroom.
• Serving: depending on age, children serve themselves or help to serve others.
• Eating together: a calm atmosphere for talking, asking and listening.
• Tidying up: clearing dishes, cleaning their place and noticing the needs of the group.

This builds independence, fine motor skills, responsibility and respect for others, the same abilities Montessori education nurtures in the classroom. You can read more about the daily rhythm on our Montessori & School Life page.

Small wellbeing routines are part of every day too: washing hands before meals and brushing teeth after lunch.

Safety first: allergies and hygiene

Cooking fresh also means taking responsibility. TIMS works carefully around allergies, hygiene and age-appropriate meals. Families are asked to share allergy information and dietary needs with the school office before their child starts and whenever circumstances change. TIMS is a nut-free school.