KidsFoodJourney: Children's Stories with Positive Food Messages

We are so lucky at KidsFoodJourney to have a professional storyteller among our staff. Chris ends every session with an energetic, sometimes musical, always hilarious story about food. Here he is telling the story of the three wishes and the sausage.

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We have found the children don’t grow out of loving this – if anything the older ones are even more engaged. We tell a story at the end of KFJ sessions from ages 4 – 11, and they all love them.

You don’t have to be a professional to tell the story! Just make sure it’s ‘on message’, and not one that teaches children that sweets and cakes are great while broccoli is bleurgh! Be careful also about stories that focus on weight, or sort foods into black and white ‘healthy/unhealthy’ categories. We never talk about weight in KFJ, and avoid telling children that certain foods are better or worse than others. We’re trying to widen their tasting horizons and place a range of food on a more level playing field for children to learn to genuinely enjoy eating a varied diet.

We’re collecting ideas for food stories with positive messages here - comment if you have a favourite to share!

These stories are designed to be read aloud to children aged between 4 and 11 - some might be too young for older children but would work in a classroom setting. Many would be great for younger children, of course.

  • My all-time favourite: 'Stone Soup’ - lots of versions of this, I like Jess Stockham’s lift-the-flap book, and there’s a nice animated version on YouTube here

  • ‘Milly Molly Mandy and the Surprise Plant’, from Milly-Molly-Mandy Again by Joyce Lankester Brisley

  • ‘Milly-Molly-Mandy Goes Blackberrying’, from Milly-Molly-Mandy Stories by Joyce Lankester Brisley (hear it on YouTube)

  • Green Eggs & Ham by Dr Seuss (hear it rapped on YouTube!)

  • Little Mouse’s Big Breakfast by Christine Pym (hear it on YouTube)

  • Oliver’s Vegetables by Vivian French (hear it on YouTube)

  • It’s Disgusting and We Ate It! by James Solheim

  • Escargot by Dashka Slater (hear it on YouTube)

  • To Market, To Market by Nikki McLure

  • How To Make an Apple Pie And See The World by Marjorie Priceman (hear it on YouTube)

  • Never Bite a Tiger on the Nose! by Lynn Rickards and Eilidh Muldoon (on YouTube here)

KidsFoodJourneyHannah EwanKidsFoodJourney, food stories, positive food story