New Recruits and Old Pros: Cooking again!
We’re back for another school year in our Montessori community, and these kids are ready to cook! Our returning friends went straight for the kitchen to see if anything had changed, while our new students followed to explore the tools and gadgets.
Given the success of our cooking endeavors last year, I changed very little in the environment. I found a bigger shelf in the garage, and after a quick coat of fresh paint, we had a much more flexible storage area…
I also added a few more child-sized stools to keep under the counter so the children could just pull them out for a visit with friends while waiting for items to bake. This was a really “social” time last year!
Since my veterans were ready to jump right in, I asked them to choose what recipe would be good to show our new students. The answer, of course, was muffins. We settled on blueberry.
Front of the recipe card.
And the back. Laminated, of course.
Necessary ingredients. I find it easier in the beginning to have these ready to go.
I take an extra step to simplify by clearly labeling the measuring tools.
Time to bake!
Well, the muffins were a hit! A little “flat,” but they seemed quite proud of them. I found that the students from last year very helpful when explaining the kitchen procedures to their new friends. This was a relief for me, as I didn’t have to do so much policing and could stand back a bit and observe.
Later in the week, we had quite a bit of fruit left from snack, so what better to use it up than some fruit salsa? (My “go to” for a lot of cutting practice!) This is a very flexible recipe that can incorporate any fruit you have on hand. Just add a squeeze of citrus and a dollop of jam and voila! Of course they remembered the cinnamon chips from last year, so we baked up some of those as well.
Delicious, of course!
We took our chips and salsa outside and spread out some blankets. There is nothing better than fruity snack on a sunny day and some time spent getting to know one another.
My goal for this year: Since I have introduced the cooking area and practice to several students last year, they are quite comfortable with “process.” I am going to move on to my “second year” phase where lessons will be added to educate the children about where our food comes from. For example, how it’s grown and where, how it gets to us, as well as vocabulary such as “organic” and “GMO.”
I feel it is important that children understand that their food doesn’t just “show up” on the grocery store shelves. That they have a connection to the earth through the food that they eat, and therefore a responsibility to respect and care for what sustains us. I can’t wait to learn with them!
-Miss Holly