Vic Kids Eat Well at Little Food Festival
DS Kids Hub, an Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) service at Noble Park Primary School, recently won a Vic Kids Eat Well and Little Food Festival “Feel Good Food competition”, a state-wide search for Victoria's favourite feel-good food for kids. The colourful winning dish, the “elote corn shaker cup” was prepared live on stage at the 2026 Little Food Festival on 15 April at Fed Square, inspiring organisations across Victoria.
Dimity Gannon, head of Healthy Places at Cancer Council Victoria, was excited to see the public health and food sectors come together in front of thousands of children and young people and their families at the festival.
"The Little Food Festival inspires our youngest Victorians and families with creative and nutritious food and drink ideas, which they can bring back to their school and sports club food environments as options they'd love to see added to menus.
"Whether it's trying in-season veggie-packed meals in school canteens, local produce for learning breaks or adding cut fruit for half-time sports snacks, the Little Food Festival provided endless inspiration for nutritious and enjoyable options for kids."
Ms Gannon also commended DS Kids Hub for its state-wide "Feel Good Food competition" win.
“With DS Kids Hub’s entry, there was so much care and passion in meal planning and involving students in meal preparation. Preparing the dish with kids live on stage demonstrated how fun nutritious food can be,” Ms Gannon said.
As Vic Kids Eat Well members, this Noble Park OSHC is improving children’s health, energy and after-school enjoyment through simple, nutritious food changes led by program coordinator Becky Chan with local support from Laura Fullard, health promotion practitioner at Monash Health.
To make the winning elote corn recipe, Miss Chan sets up a self-serve station where children access corn, beans, carrot, capsicum, cheese, avocado, coriander, lemon juice, Greek yoghurt and paprika.
“They spoon the ingredients into jars and shake! The children then enjoy talking about the ingredients with their friends while they eat,” said Miss Chan.
The benefits of adding colour and crunch go beyond nutrition.
“These foods give kids the energy until dinner time. Recipes like our elote corn are affordable and easy, while also lifting mood and helping kids relax and connect after a big day,” she said.
Miss Chan said recognition from Vic Kids Eat Well and the Little Food Festival has been especially meaningful for the service, which operates on a small budget with minimal equipment.
“Our ‘Feel Good Food competition’ prize will allow our OSHC to replace an old stick blender with a bench-top blender, making it easier to offer hungry kids nutritious smoothies after school,” Miss Chan said.
Miss Chan runs DS Kids Hub singlehandedly and welcomes 5-8 children after school each afternoon. She focuses on practical, nutritious additions with guidance from the free state-wide Vic Kids Eat Well movement, which supports OSHC services, schools and sports clubs, to add delicious, feel-good food and drink options for kids.
“After a full day of learning and playing, ‘what’s for afternoon tea’ is the first thing kids ask. They look forward to their OSHC snack every single day,” Miss Chan said.
Rather than removing foods, Becky started by asking the children what they enjoy, and building new colourful and nutritious options in.
“I always look at what I can add, not what I can take away,” she said.
When homemade pizza is on the menu, she now adds thinly sliced mushrooms and chopped spinach beneath the cheese.
“The children enjoy the taste, without commenting on the extra vegetables,” she said.
“Working with our health promoter Laura has given me access to resources and recipes from Vic Kids Eat Well and Monash Health, including recipe ideas with affordable ingredients.”
Another menu standout is Miss Chan’s rainbow veggie frittata, made from leftover vegetables such as carrot, zucchini, corn and capsicum, mixed with eggs, milk and a little flour.
“Even the name makes it appealing to kids; it’s one of their favourites,” she said.
The Little Food Festival is Australia’s iconic food festival for kids and it’s free. Thousands of kids joined two jam-packed days in the April school holidays for foodie fun, exploration and creativity at Fed Square.