Kai and our senses Poster A2 & A3) - Schools and clinics

Exploring Kai With Our Senses

The Opportunity: Moving From Pressure to Curiosity

Children experience food through much more than taste.

Before kai ever reaches the mouth, children notice how it looks, smells, sounds and feels. A food may be smooth or bumpy, quiet or crunchy, familiar or completely new. These sensory details can shape how comfortable, curious or uncertain a child feels around it.

Yet food learning often focuses on one final expectation: Will you eat it?

When children feel pressured to taste, finish or approve of a food, sensory exploration can quickly become stressful. A child who is still learning about a food may be labelled “fussy” when they are actually noticing, assessing and becoming familiar with a complex sensory experience.

Children do not have to taste a food to begin learning about it. Looking, listening, smelling and touching are all meaningful forms of exploration.

The Solution: A Playful, Pressure-Free Sensory Guide

Created by New Zealand Registered Dietitian Kendall North, this vibrant educational poster gives children practical words for noticing and describing kai through their senses.

Instead of asking children to decide whether a food is “good,” “bad,” “yummy” or “yucky,” the poster invites them to become curious food explorers:

• Sight: What colour, shape, size or pattern do you notice?

• Hearing: Does it pop, fizz, snap, crunch, crackle or sizzle?

• Smell: Is it sweet, fruity, fresh, earthy, strong, mild, familiar or new?

• Feel: Is it smooth, rough, soft, hard, warm, cold, dry, sticky or squishy?

• Taste: Is it sweet, salty, sour, bitter or umami?

The language is neutral and descriptive. There is no requirement to like the food, taste it or eat a particular amount.

Children are simply invited to notice.

A Powerful Way to Make Food Learning Active

Sensory exploration turns food education into something children can see, hear, smell, touch, describe and investigate.

The poster gives kaiako an immediate starting point for hands-on learning across food and nutrition, health, science, oral language and descriptive writing. Children can observe carefully, compare foods, learn new vocabulary and share their individual experiences without needing everyone to reach the same conclusion.

It can be used during:

• shared meals and snack times

• cooking and food-preparation activities

• fruit and vegetable tastings

• gardening and garden-to-table learning

• science investigations

• oral-language activities

• descriptive writing

• food-themed play

• individual nutrition or feeding support

One child may describe a smell as mild while another experiences it as strong. One may enjoy a crunchy sound while another finds it uncomfortable. The poster creates space for these differences and reinforces that people can experience the same kai in different ways.

Why This Belongs in Your School, Kura or Clinic

• Takes the Pressure Off Tasting: Shows children that looking, smelling, listening and touching are also valuable ways to explore and learn about food.

• Builds Practical Sensory Vocabulary: Gives children specific words to describe what they notice instead of relying only on “yum,” “yuck,” “like” or “don’t like.”

• Encourages Curiosity Without Judgement: Uses neutral prompts that invite observation without ranking foods or requiring a particular response.

• Makes Food Learning Interactive: Turns everyday kai, shared meals and cooking activities into opportunities for investigation, discussion and discovery.

• Respects Sensory Differences: Helps children recognise that people can experience the same colour, smell, sound, texture or taste differently—and that these differences are valid.

• Supports Communication: Gives children language they can use to explain what feels comfortable, unfamiliar, interesting or challenging about a food.

• Connects Across Learning Areas: Supports food and nutrition education while creating natural links with science, oral language, descriptive writing, cooking and garden-based learning.

• Creates a Shared Language: Gives children, whānau, teachers and health professionals a consistent, non-judgemental way to talk about sensory food experiences.

• Welcoming and Child-Friendly: Kai the Kiwi and the colourful garden setting make sensory learning feel playful, accessible and memorable.

Simple Ways to Use the Poster

Ask children to choose one sense and describe what they notice:

• What can you see?

• Does the food make a sound?

• What does it smell like?

• How does it feel in your hand or mouth?

• If you choose to taste it, what flavour do you notice?

• Does it remind you of another food or experience?

• Did anything change when the food was cut, cooked, mixed or cooled?

There are no right answers. The aim is to notice, describe and learn—not to persuade children to eat.

Professional & Institutional Pricing

Every institutional purchase automatically includes a Single-Site Display Licence for use throughout one early learning centre, school campus, private-practice clinic, PHO or hospital ward.

• A3 Professional Poster: $39.00
  Compact 297 mm × 420 mm—ideal for classrooms, eating spaces, teaching kitchens, consultation rooms or garden-to-table areas.

• A2 Professional Poster: $49.00
  Large 420 mm × 594 mm—ideal for shared dining areas, teaching kitchens, school halls, clinic spaces or interactive food-learning displays.

💡 Bundle & Save: Create a coordinated food-discovery display while saving money with our [A3 Mix & Match Bundle] or high-visibility [A2 Mix & Match Bundle].

Heavy-Duty Quality: Made for Hands-On Learning Spaces

Classrooms, teaching kitchens, eating areas and clinics are busy, high-touch environments. Standard paper and inexpensive laminates can quickly tear, curl, bubble or fade.

This poster is printed exclusively on Duroprint—a premium, heavy-duty synthetic material designed for durable, long-term display.

• 100% Waterproof and Tear-Resistant: It will not wrinkle, rip or be ruined by splashes or frequent handling.

• Easy to Clean and Sanitise: Wipes clean with a damp cloth or hospital-grade sanitising wipes without fading, bleeding or warping.

• Long-Lasting and Low-Waste: It will not fray or curl at the edges, reducing the need for frequent replacement.

• Child-Safe and Non-Toxic: PVC-free, phthalate-free and heavy-metal-free, making it suitable for high-touch educational and clinical environments.

• Fully Recyclable: At the end of its long life, the poster can be recycled as Type 5 polypropylene plastic.

NZ Procurement, Invoicing & Purchase Orders

We support institutional procurement pathways and accept standard school, kura, health-service and medical-centre purchase orders, as well as direct bank-transfer invoicing.

Select “Online Bank Transfer / Purchase Order” as your payment method at checkout, or email dietitian@kendallnorth.co.nz with your administrative requirements.

Disclaimer: This resource is intended for general education, sensory exploration and food-literacy purposes. It is not designed to assess, diagnose or treat feeding, sensory, developmental or medical concerns, and it does not replace individualised support from an appropriately qualified health professional. Children should never be pressured to touch, taste or eat a food. Follow all relevant allergy, food-safety and individual support requirements.

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