It has been wonderful to see young children spread their wings in the kitchen . It looked quite extraordinary to see toddlers learn and enjoy cooking lessons. Honestly, at the beginning I was Hesitant. But the feedbacks were very encouraging and base on my experiences and observations- I’m very happy to have started introducing cooking lessons in my Family Day Care program with toddlers and preschoolers.In our “cooking lesson” the first lesson was the easiest- making fruit jelly. But with toddlers, induction and discussion prior to the start of the cooking lesson children have to be educated by talking about the importance of being safe in the kitchen. For instance , children are encouraged to slice fruits or soft vegetables using plastic knives that are blunt. And when mixing the warm liquid mixture of jelly, children are in close supervision as they are reminded to be careful.
The second food
that we cooked were waffles. Ingredients : Full cream milk, banana, pear ,self-rising flour and jam/honey. The waffles we made were delicious and the children ate it all.I don’t recommend adding sugar since adding bananas and other fruits will sweeten the food.
The third
food the children made were fruit donuts. Almost the same ingredients with the waffles except we added cinnamon . Yesterday was our fourth cooking Lesson session. We made dates,sultana-choco-carrot muffins. The children were amazing. They were patient and listened to instructions.
To sum up the year, we have cooked a variety of dishes that were savoury and sweet. On our Christmas party 2022 ,we made a very simple kale pizza with basil pesto . The children prepared the dough by spreading the basil pesto first , then layered with shredded kale topped with mozzarella cheese. The children loved it. We all loved it. We all had it for lunch. By afternoon time we had our exchanged gift , games and more playtime.
It was the last week with the happy learners before the Christmas holiday . Having happy memories and instilling confidence to our young learners that they can prepare their own meals , somehow, is something that can change the mindset of a child positively. Hopefully they will enjoy cooking at home too.
For more information to enrol your child please visit www.happykidsfdc.com .