The Menu Revision Tool is designed to assist child care cooks and licensees to improve their menus to align with the recommendations in the Child Care Menu Planning – Practical Guide.
Child care licensees are encouraged to follow the 3 steps below to make gradual improvements to their menu.
Step 1: Prepare for the revision process
Review the Practical Guide:
• Learn about the recommended meal and snack patterns (pages 5-6)
• Use the food choice tables on pages 9-20 to make sure that:
- foods offered are from the Serve category
- no more than three foods per week are from the Limit category for whole grains, and
- no foods from the Do Not Serve category are offered
On the menu, add details about:
- Vegetables and Fruits (e.g., steamed carrot sticks, cooked broccoli, canned peaches in
juice (drained), fresh pear slices) - Whole Grain foods (e.g., brown rice, whole grain pasta, whole wheat bread)
- Protein foods (e.g., black beans, ground beef, chicken thighs, canned salmon) and,
- Beverages offered, including water
Step 2: Revise the menu
Use the table below to assess the menu’s meals and snacks and the food and beverage choices. Read each recommendation carefully and add a checkmark in the appropriate box. To complete the checklist, involve staff who develop menus and prepare food (e.g., cooks, caterers).
TIP: The following tools can help you revise your meals and snacks:
- The Fillable Menu Template
- The Meal and Snack Checklist
Recommendations
Note YES or No for each recommendation — download the pdf document for a chart with tick boxes
MEALS
All meals include at least:
• 2 choices from Vegetables and Fruits,
• 1 choice from Whole Grain foods,
• 1 choice from iron-rich Protein foods,
• Milk to drink.
SNACKS
One snack includes at least:
• 1 choice from Vegetables and Fruits,
• 1 choice from Whole Grain foods.
The other snack includes at least:
• 1 choice from Vegetables and Fruits,
• 1 choice from Protein foods.
VARIETY
- Once per day, serve dark green vegetables such as broccoli, bok choy, spinach,
green peppers, and peas. - A few times a week, serve orange vegetables such as carrots, orange peppers,
sweet potatoes, and squash. - At least twice a day, serve whole grains such as barley, brown rice, oats, quinoa,
and whole grain pasta, tortillas, pitas, crackers or cereals. - At least once per week, serve a plant-based protein meal with beans, lentils, or tofu.
- At least once per week, serve a meal with eggs or fish such as cod, sole, haddock,
salmon, mackerel, tilapia, trout, light tuna or whitefish. - The menu includes:
- A 4-6 week cycle,
- A variety of colours, shapes, temperatures and textures
- Dishes that reflect various cultures and traditions.
BEVERAGES
At all times, tap water is available to children.
At meals, serve:
- Homogenized (3.25%) milk to children 12-24 months of age,
- 1% or 2% milk to children older than 24 months
Do Not Serve – Does your menu offer? (Yes or No)
- Flavoured milk or soy beverages such as chocolate milk, vanilla soy beverage, hot chocolate.
- Fruit or vegetable juices.
- Battered or deep-fried vegetables such as French fries, hash browns and vegetable chips.
- Tortilla/pita chips and chip-like snack foods, pretzels, and baked goods with chocolate, caramel or candy pieces.
- Processed cheese products such as processed cheese slices and breaded cheese sticks.
- Frozen desserts such as ice cream, freezie-type, ice pops, slushies.
- Foods that contain few or no nutrients and/or contain high amounts of salt, sugar or saturated fats such as cupcakes, pies, jelly desserts, puddings, croissants and marshmallows.
- Foods that are highly processed and/or contain high amounts of sodium such as deli meats, pepperoni, bacon, wieners, sausages, ham, prepared store-bought breaded or battered fried chicken or fish.
- Foods that are choking hazards for children under 4 without adequate preparation. Some examples include:
- whole/chopped nuts and seeds, chunky peanut or nut butter,
- raw vegetables or hard fruit (unless grated or thinly sliced)
- whole grapes and cherry tomatoes (unless cut into quarters, lengthwise)
Step 3 Make a plan to improve your menu
Review results of Step 2 with your child care team. Decide on your
- Goal(s) – What do you want to accomplish?
- Actions – Steps required to achieve your goal.
- Who – Who is responsible for the action?
- When – Target date of implementation.
Use the table in the download to develop your menu improvement plan. Note specific actions and timelines that are needed to reach each goal (e.g., what, who, when). Check the last column once each goal is completed.
