Blue Pincushion: our 2027 Early Childhood Cook's Diary cover, and 3 ways to explore it with children
Meet Brunonia australis, the blue pincushion behind the cover colour of our 2027 Early Childhood Cook's Diary, plus three easy food-and-garden ideas with EYLF links.
Each of our 2027 cover colours is named after an Australian native plant. The Early Childhood Cook's Diary wears Blue Pincushion, and here is a little about it, plus three easy ways to explore it with your children.
Meet the Blue Pincushion
Brunonia australis is one of the few Australian wildflowers that is truly, unmistakably blue. Its perfectly round flower heads sit on slender stems like pins in a pincushion, and it grows right across the country, from coastal heath to inland plains.
We chose it for the Cook's Diary because real blue is as rare on the plate as it is in the bush, and nobody starts more food conversations at a service than the cook.
Bring it into your kitchen and program
Three simple experiences, each with a link to the EYLF so the kitchen becomes part of the learning.
1. Eat a rainbow, find the blue
Challenge the children to find naturally blue and purple foods: blueberries, purple cabbage, purple carrots. Why is true blue so rare in food? Taste-test and vote for a favourite at morning tea.
EYLF: Outcome 3 (children take increasing responsibility for their own health and wellbeing).
2. Pincushion platters
Let the children help arrange round fruit pieces into pincushion-flower platters for the room. Food that children build is food that children eat.
EYLF: Outcome 1 (children develop autonomy and a sense of agency) and Outcome 3.
3. From garden to kitchen
Plant a pot of herbs the children choose with the cook, parsley, mint, chives. When the kitchen uses their harvest in lunch, close the loop and tell them exactly which dish their herbs are in.
EYLF: Outcome 2 (children connect with and contribute to their world through sustainable food practices).
Notice and document
Menus, dietary needs and the kitchen's contribution to the program all live in the Early Childhood Cook's Diary, so when children fall in love with purple carrots, there is a place to plan the next step. That is the Butler Method in action.
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