LITTLE chefs have been experimenting in the kitchen at home with their families.

Tots at Little Manor day nursery in Runcorn were given recipe bags with fresh ingredients and instructions to make a nutritious soup.

The bags contained an orange, carrots, onions, lentils, stock and garlic to create carrot and lentil soup.

Nursery manager Carla Lawrenson said: “Little Manor children eat lots of fruit and vegetables because we freshly prepare all of our meals and snacks.

“We don’t just serve healthy food to them, we teach them how to prepare delicious and nutritionally balanced food themselves. “By letting children experience and enjoy the cooking process, we’re helping them to understand where nutritious meals come from.

“This doesn’t just encourage a love of cooking, it helps our children to make healthy decisions now and in the future.

“We wanted to make it as easy as possible for our busy families to have fun cooking with their little ones so we gave them everything they needed to make a lovely meal.”

The soup is one of the nutritionally balanced meals from nursery’s seasonal menu which was awarded the bronze catering mark from the Soil Association in recognition of its use of fresh, locally sourced ingredients.