Springtime Flowers!

I have to admit, I use Pinterest.  I love it!  There are so many great ideas, I get excited and want to try them.  For Easter I wanted to make flower shaped sugar cookies, however, I ran out of time.  So I was thinking we would make them this week which inspired the theme Springtime Flowers! Another recipe I have been waiting to make are Apples in a Blanket.  I thought I could tie that into the theme as well.  Also, the recipe that has been around forever, Dirt Cake. 

I know this all sounds delicious yet not so healthy.  I have a big sweet tooth so all of this sounds really good to me!  Actually in my efforts to eat better and live a better lifestyle, I have been reading many articles about coconut oil.  It is amazing how one oil can provide so many healthy aspects.  I was eager to try it so as soon as I finished the oil I already had, I purchased coconut oil.  I was very excited to bake this week so I could try my new oil.  I think it is pretty neat that I can use one item in many ways, in place of butter on toast or oil for baking and cooking.

We began with the Dirt Cake, we discussed how plants need soil to grow.  Our garden has a lot of soil so we can plant our vegetables.  We added gummy worms to our Dirt Cake because worms help our soil get nutrients it needs for plants to be helathy and grow properly.  We also discussed composting.  I did a project way back about composting and all the benefits.  Since I have a garden of my own I compost as much as I can.  The children came up with ideas on their own about what could be composted.  W said, "Cucumber peels."  M said, " apples." L said, "eggs."  Which I only compost the shells!  After making our list of composting ingredients we moved onto the next step, flowers. 

We made our flower sugar cookies and discussed what flowers need in order to grow.  They all were able to tell me that flowers need soil, seeds, water, and sun to grow.  As we were placing the cookies on the cookie sheet we named the parts of the flower.  Each flower has roots in our healthy soil, a stem, leaves, and petals.  We named different colors of flowers and discussed how bees help flowers and how they attract butterflies. 

W rolling a ball to dip in colored sugar.

While the cookies were baking they drew in their cooking journals.  They drew how flowers grow and what they need to grow.  After that they enjoyed a flower cookie!  Some of the flower cookies didn't exactly look like flowers.  As M said, "They look like butterflies!"  But it is not about the end product and how it looks, it is about the process and what we learned.  At least that's what I tell myself so I don't feel bad! 

Cookie Time!

Now for the Apples in a Blanket!  I love apple pie but do I really need a whole pie?  I don't think so.  So these are perfect!  Individual apple pies!  So quick, so easy, and so delicious!  While the children were taking turns adding ingredients or cutting apples we talked about where apples come from and how they grow.  We looked at the seeds.  Every time we eat a food with seeds L brings it to my attention.  So now we have two categories:  some seeds you eat and some seeds you don't eat.  I had the children categorize some seeds into the two categories.  I hope this helps so she doesn't keep picking cucumber seeds out or strawberry seeds off! 
We rolled our apples up and baked them.  At lunch time we tried one and let me just say a little bite of yummy deliciousness! 

Apples in a Blanket before being baked.

A lot of baking but so much fun and I am glad I was able to use coconut oil and try that.  I think the children will have a better understanding of soil and plants when it comes time to plant our flowers and vegetables.  As usual I will keep my ears open to listen for conversation about flowers.  For now I am going to go eat!

Flower Cookies:

Make a sugar cookie.  Roll into balls then dip into color sugar. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and using scissors slice the cookie to make the petals.  Bake according to your sugar cookie recipe.  We only sliced our cookie twice making four petals.  The recipe I found cuts their cookies three times making six petals. 

Apples in a Blanket:

I buy pie crust so you can buy your pie crust or make your own.

I used two tart apples Granny Smith.  Peel the apples and then with an apple slicer cut the apples.  Pour a little lemon juice on them so they don't turn brown.  Then cover them with cinnamon and sugar.  I used 1/3 cup sugar and one teaspoon cinnamon.  Roll those apples around and cover them good. 

Roll out the pie crust and place an apple on it.  Cut a strip of pie crust and roll the apple up until it is completely wrapped then cut the pie crust strip. 

Our crust completely covers the apple.  From looking at this again cut the strip narrower so the apple sticks out on the ends.  You will get more strips this way.  Just roll the apple until the crust meets then cut it so you can place another apple.  After the apple is wrapped roll it in the cinnamon sugar mix and place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. 

Bake at 350 degrees until they are golden brown.  Let them cool a little on the pan and then remove them and enjoy them!

Farm animals!

Awhile ago we discussed gardening and what types of food grows in gardens and what types of food comes from animals.  Today we made pigs in a blanket, drank milk, and ate hard boiled eggs.  We discussed farm animals more.  We made the animal sounds and talked about the animals and what they provide for us.  Cows give us milk and meat, pigs give us meat, chickens give us meat and eggs. 

Will has been working on rhyming words.  So during the farm animal discussion we were practicing rhyming words to the farm animal.  Cow, ow, wow. Pig, wig, twig. Sheep, heep, steep. Morgan loves to rhyme and Will is doing very well.  He names a rhyming word.  Morgan thinks of her own rhymes throughout the day.  Lydia counted the Pigs In A Blanket for us, counting up to eight. 

They loved the Pigs In A Blanket and ate more than one!

I am looking forward to gardening this year and teaching way more than growing plants.  Will, Morgan, and Lydia are understanding where and how we get our food.  They make the connection while eating and while grocery shopping.

Easter!

Since I am not using this blog for school anymore I thought I would add our Ressurrection Rolls to the blog.  I like reading Bible stories to the children and teaching them about Jesus.  When I found this recipe on Pinterest I knew I needed to make these with the kids. 

We used cresent rolls, marshmallows, melted butter, and cinnamon and sugar to learn about Jesus' resurrection.  The marshmallow represented Jesus, the butter represented the oil people put on Jesus, the cinnamon and sugar were the embolming spices.  They placed the marshmallow on the cresent roll and wrapped it up.  We placed them in the oven for 12 minutes and when they came out we had a surprise!  The marshmallow was suppose to disappear representing Jesus had risen.  However, the marshmallow just fell out of the roll and was a nice glob next to the rolls! Maybe we didn't have them closed tight enough.  No big deal, we still ate them and discussed what had happened.

The kids were really engaged in this and learned what had happened to Jesus.  They were able to see and understand what we were saying.  Since they saw what happened it made the story clear and they asked many questions that I tried my best to answer. 

I had so much fun with this I am going to make this with the Vacation Bible School children this summer.   Apparently I didn't take any pictures because I can't find any on my camera! 

Birthdays!

The Birthday Girls!

This was quite a week!  When I finally made it to Thursday I was excited to begin making birthday treats for Morgan and Lydia's birthday party.  Lydia chose Minnie Mouse for her theme and Morgan chose Tinkerbell.  We started by making chocolate covered pretzels with green and purple sprinkles (Tinkerbell).  During this I watched their fine motor skills and coordination.  Will and Morgan made the pretzels and I noticed their fine motor skills increasing.  Their pincer grasp is working very well so they are able to hold a pencil and write. 

We also tried to make Minnie Mouse Oreo cookies on sticks, however, it's trickier than it looks.  We were able to count during this activity.  How many were successful? How many fell apart? 

We made colorful cupcakes so Lydia would be able to practice her colors.  The girls chose purple for one of the colors.  Since we didn't purple food coloring this gave us the opportunity to learn about mixing colors. So we added red and blue food coloring and stirred.  Magic...purple appeared and there were gasps around the kitchen! 

Including the children in the  baking for their birthday party heightened the anticipation for the party.  They were so excited and proud of what they have made. 

Conclusion

Throughout the process of searching and reading the research I found for my literature review I was excited and amazed at how much students can learn through cooking.  My children’s skills in January before we started cooking weekly included, for example, not being able to count in sequence, pouring an adequate amount with out spilling, knew nothing about other cultures, and they couldn’t measure. 

Now after cooking for many weeks their skills have greatly improved, they are able to count in sequence, measure, pour, they are knowledgeable about Germany and Mexico, and they love trying new foods that they have made, and they can make meals on their own. The best part is all the bonding we have had.   

I have enjoyed this project every step of the way.  I have learned that action project means to take action to provide a better learning environment, be active in the learning process, and learning together makes it more fun and allows for people to discuss topics.  This action project has made me feel that I have a voice and I can help children learn in a fun, creative, hands-on manner that incorporates an academic foundation as well as, life-long skills.  I have thought outside of the box. I have tried new things that I don’t think I would have tried if it weren’t for this project.  Even though the project is coming to a close for this class, I do not believe I will stop this project.  I have thought of more cooking experiences for the children and more concepts to teach them.  I would love to continue this project throughout the summer so when they go to school in the fall hopefully they will have many skills that will help them succeed in school. 

This project also has implications for the future.  In the next school year I will look for more opportunities to develop an action project and work with children to provide the best learning environment for them.  

Implications:

Cooking experiences are easy to tie in meaningfully to a variety of content areas and topics

Cooking experiences are highly engaging and interesting to students 

Cooking and gardening experiences are loaded with science and mathematics concepts

Cooking with children allows for differentiation in that learning of varying ages and abilities can gain relevant knowledge and skills and participate meaningfully

Cooking experiences need not be costly, time-consuming or complicated

Journals with drawings and narrative are an effective way for children to document and reflect on their experiences

Pretzels

Ingredients

• 1 pkg. dry active yeast
• 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 tsp. sugar

• 2 tbsp. butter, melted (or 2 tbsp. vegetable oil)
• 4 cups plus 1 tbsp. flour
• 1 egg, beaten
• Course salt

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, soften yeast in water for 10 minutes. Add salt, sugar and butter. Mix in flour until a dough forms. Knead the dough for 5 minutes and set aside for 1 hour.
2. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. With a knife, cut dough into small pieces. Roll each piece into pencil-thin ropes and shape into pretzels. Cover a cookie sheet with foil and sprinkle 1 tablespoon flour.
3. Place pretzels onto floured cookie sheet. Brush with egg mixture and sprinkle coarse salt on top. Bake for 12 minutes.

Black Forest Torte

Ingredients

·                        1 dark chocolate cake mix (or your own from scratch)

·                        1/4 c. kirsch (cherry brandy)

·                        1 can cherry pie filling

·                        16 oz. heavy whipping cream

·                        1/2 c. confectioners' sugar

·                        Maraschino cherries, drained, optional, for garnish

·                        milk chocolate curls or shavings, for garnish

Instructions

Make one chocolate cake in two round pans.  Remove them from pans and let cool completely.  When they are cool you may sprinkle a little kirsch (cherry brandy) over them.  I omit this and the cake still tastes delicious. 

Chill electric beaters and large mixing bowl; beat cream until it thickens slightly, gradually add confectioners' sugar and beat until thick enough to hold its shape.

There are many ways to assemble the cake be creative.  This is how I do it because the kids love it!  I slice each layer in half horizontally.  So you will now have four layers.  Set the first layer on a cake plate spread the whipping cream on and then spread on some cherry pie filling.  Add the next layer, some whipping cream, cherries, and the next layer, I spread the remaining whipping cream around the entire cake, top with cherries and chocolate shavings.  The fourth layer of cake we crumble up and put around the sides of the cake.  Keep refrigerated.

Chex Mix  

Ingredients

4 ½ cups Rice Chex cereal

½ cup White Vanilla baking chips

¼ cup peanut butter

2 Tablespoons butter or margarine

1/3 cup powdered sugar

¼ cup M&M’s

Sprinkles

Instructions

Place cereal in medium bowl.  In small microwavable bowl, microwave vanilla chips, peanut butter, and butter uncovered on High 1 minute to 1 minute 30 seconds, stirring every 30 seconds, until melted and smooth.  Pour peanut butter mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated. 

Place ½ of the cereal mixture in 1-gallon food storage bag.  Add powdered sugar.  Seal bag, shake until well coated.  Spread on waxed paper or foil, cool about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, stir candies and sprinkles into remaining cereal mixture. Spread on waxed paper or foil, cool about 15 minutes.

In serving bowl, mix both cereal mixtures, store in airtight container.

*Remember: You do not need to use peanut butter with this recipe.  You may use a substitute or just the chocolate.  I have also found other recipes that are lemon flavor so you may find a recipe that works for your environment.     

Fiesta!

As our culminating activity we had a Fiesta!  I pulled everything we have learned over the past few weeks and put it all together.  Using each concept we created a fun Fiesta! 

I started by reading the book Chicks and Salsa by Aaron Reynolds.  This is my daughter's favorite book to get from the library.  We have read it so much that this book inspired the Fiesta.  I thought we could use it for our cooking because it fits perfectly.  The farm animals are tired of their regular food, so the rooster watches a cooking show and discovers salsa.  The chickens go into the garden and pick their supplies and make salsa.  Then the ducks make guacomole, and the pigs make nachos. It is a great book and I like how the author uses alliteration.  Example: succulent, spicy, southwestern cuisine, the limes had been lifted, the peppers had been pilfered, the scallions had been stolen. 

After reading we made our own salsa. I wanted to do this last summer because we grow all the ingredients in our garden.  However, we never made any.  We were all excited to make salsa.  Come to find out it is very easy to make and I am looking forward to our garden this year so we can make more.  The children took turns chopping vegetables and adding them to the food chopper.  We spoke Spanish saying hello, good bye, hot, cold, counting, please, and thank you.  I found it interesting that I speak Spanish throughout the day and the kids never repeat it.  W can count to 10 in Spanish but other than that they don't say any Spanish words.  After today's cooking experience they were saying please and thank you in Spanish while playing and using their cooking journals. 

In one part of the book, when the animals are getting ready for their Fiesta, the bull practices the Mexican Hat Dance.  So I thought it would be fun to try this.  I looked up how to do it.  We gave it a try.  It was fun to dance together and learn a new dance as part of another culture.

I was so wrapped up in what we were doing that I forgot to take pictures.  The children wrote in their cooking journals.  They drew a picture of the salsa we made and labeled it.  Then I asked them what their recipe for salsa is and wrote that down.  Some very interesting recipes! W chose all fruit ingredients for a fruit salsa! M chose various items including fruit, oatmeal, yogurt, and onions!  L chose bananas, yogurt, and strawberries!

Watching the kids from the first cooking experience until now and seeing how much they have improved on their skills and how much they have learned and retained from cooking amazes me.  It is the simple things in life.  As a parent you don't need a lot of supplies or equipment to teach your children. They just need to be involved in the everyday operations and they can learn dozens of life long skills.  As a teacher providing cooking experiences in school would give children an experience they may not be able to have at home. 

Green Day!

I know it's a little early for St. Patrick's Day, however, I need to adjust the schedule to finish my project before our presentations.  Also, I love holidays and festive days so I can do fun creative things with the kids.  The leprechaun has already been sneaking around our house, so I thought I would make a day of green!

We started our day with green eggs and green milk for breakfast.  My son requested next time to have green toast! The timing on this was perfect because at his school they will be eating green eggs and ham.  He is not a big fan of eating eggs.  So I am glad he tried them at home first so he knows what to expect at school.  After breakfast we got dress and wore our green apparel. 

Then we read a St. Patrick's Day story.  The girls and I went to the library and I asked for the St. Patrick's Day books.  The librarian said they didn't have many and showed me where they were.  There were four books on the shelf and three of the books were the same story!  So I took one off the shelf glanced through it and brought it home.  It turned out to be a really cute book.

The story was about a town decorating for St. Patrick's Day and the people wanted to paint the entire town green.  A little man came and need help with his cows so the people of the town helped him.  However, they didn't finish painting in time for St. Patrick's Day so while they were sleeping the little man painted their town.  When they woke up everything was green. 

My kids and I went to our kitchen and took out green peppers, paper, and green paint.  I cut the peppers in half, they dipped the peppers in paint and then onto their paper.  This creates shamrocks! So cool and so easy.  I learned that you need just a little paint.  Not too much or it won't look like a shamrock. 

Next, we made green Jell-o. My kids love Jell-o.  During this activity we worked on measuring, stirring, and pouring.  They are doing so much better than when we started!  After we put the jell-o in the fridge we made chocolate pretzels.  These are the pretzels with a Hershey kiss melted and M&M's on top.  Thanks to Pinterest for the idea.  I found green mint M&M's so we used those.  W set the pretzels on the cookie sheet, L unwrapped the chocolate, and M placed the chocolate on the pretzel.  I put them in the oven at 200 degrees just long enough for the chocolate to melt. I took the cookie sheet out and we topped them with green M&M's to look like a shamrock.  So easy and so delicious!  This helped L with her counting.  She even counted the bowls of Jell-o by herself.  So proud of her! 

The children took out their Cooking Journals while I cleaned up a bit.  They drew pictures of what we made this morning.  They even labeled their pictures on their own.  (Their idea, so proud!)  This was a great recall exercise.  They thought about everything we did in the morning.  Discussing how everything was made and the color green.

Then it was time for lunch. We had green tortilla sandwiches with a green surprise in the middle, a pickle!  They had fun making the sandwiches and they loved eating them!  A+ for trying something new!

I am glad I had a book to connect to our Green Day.  The children referred to the book throughout the morning, recalling what happened in the story, talking about green, connecting the book with what they were doing.  This project for today started out just being geared toward St. Patrick's Day fun.  However, in the middle of it, I thought, we could do a different color a day and learn our colors that way.  L needs to learn a few more colors yet. So I thought this would be perfect for her.  We were able to work on shapes during lunch, counting, measuring, motor skills, as well as, St. Patrick's Day and helping others.  Throughout the day the children would name items that are green.  If they saw something green they would say it or they would name an item that is green.

I am feeling more confident with this project and I keep coming up with more ideas.  The amount of learning I can incorporate into our cooking projects astonishes me.  Instead of doing separate lessons for each concept, I can include everything in one cooking project! Time saver, more fun, and the children really respond to and comprehend the material. 

Pretzels!

Today we made pretzels as we continue to learn about Germany.  One of the things I remember about my trip to Switzerland is the soft pretzels.  They are huge, crispy brown shell, soft in the middle, and melt in your mouth delicious.  So I thought we would make our own, knowing they won’t be anything like they are in Europe, but still a fun experience to learn more. 

We started with yeast and discussed how yeast makes bread rise and it becomes bigger.  We also worked more on our measuring and fractions while pouring ingredients into the bowl.  After the dough was formed we took turns trying to knead the dough.  After that, we placed the ball of dough in a bowl and waited one hour.  When we checked back an hour later the ball of dough was bigger.  So we talked more about yeast and its magic powers.  We were all excited to roll out dough to form our pretzels.  I took a piece of dough to demonstrate what they needed to do and had a big disappointment.  The dough wouldn’t roll.  I have never made pretzels before so I didn’t know what to do so I gave each of the kids some dough and told them to make whatever shape they could.  They had fun experimenting with the dough to see what shape they could create.  While we were rolling out dough we worked on counting, L keeps missing the number four.  Also, we worked on fractions; W cut some of his dough into bite size pieces so he cut his dough into fourths or thirds.  I also, added some conservation and we discussed thick and thin, length, small, medium, and large.  Next we needed to brush egg over the pretzels and sprinkle salt on them.  While doing this we reviewed some German words and tried to count a little in German.  (I need my mother-in-law)  By the time the children had their lunch made the pretzels were out of the oven and cooling.  We all took a pretzel and tasted them.  The crispy outside with the soft middle was delicious.  Not even comparable with European pretzels but still quite delicious.  All the kids agreed they like them and would make them again.  (Which if I have time of Saturday I will be trying another recipe to compare pretzels.)  There was a lot of learning going on today with the pretzels which made it even more fun and fascinating to me. 



Kneading dough



 



Rolling dough



Shapes, letters - r, o.

Enjoying their soft pretzels!

 I love this project and I am thinking of ways to continue it with my own children as well with the community. I thought about creating a class with Parks and Recreation to give children the opportunity to cook.  I didn’t participate in the kitchen when I was growing up and when I got married and needed to make dinner I was unsure of how to cook chicken.  My husband would cook the meat and I would make the sides.  Now I am feeling more confident and having more fun with cooking.  I feel it is important to include children in the cooking process to build an academic foundation that will help them in school as well as later on in their life.  I wonder if people participate in cooking as children do they feel more confident cooking as adults? Do they enjoy it more? Are they more creative with their cooking?  Even if adults don’t feel confident cooking they should still involve their children to create memories, bond, and learn together.  It is surprising what you are capable of if you just give yourself a chance.  Who knew my kids would ever learn German while making a cake and pretzels! 

Germany

This week we focused on culture.  My mother-in-law is from Germany and my husband loves the Black Forest Torte.  So for his birthday I make this cake for him.  This year the kids are old enough to help and we can learn a little about Germany.  We looked at a map and found Michigan then we found Germany and looked at how far apart we are.  Then I told them about the Black Forest region in Germany.  We learned that it is called Black Forest because there are so many trees that the forest is dark.  The region is known for making cuckoo clocks, which the children immediately were excited that we have one.  We even learned a few words in German.  Essen for eat and torte for cake.  We also learned various others including please and thank you.

This week was important to me because I wanted the children to learn about Germany and be able to share their knowledge with their Oma.  Also, we will be traveling to Germany this summer so they will be able to use their new knowledge to make connections when we are there. 

All of the kids wrote in their cooking journals about what they remembered about Germany.  They would like to show their Oma the journals when she comes for the party and share their knowledge. They enjoyed making the cake for their father and are very proud of it. 

In a classroom there will be a variety of cultures and for one teacher to teach all of them through cooking will be difficult.  If the students could make a recipe at home with their family then they can bring it to school and share a few facts with the class.  This gives the students the opportunity to bond with their family and present their knowledge of their culture to their friends.  They will feel proud of themselves and the class can learn about a variety of cultures. 

Listening to the children during their pretend play they are using the word essen while playing house and making dinner.  I smile to myself because they are using their knowledge they learned in the correct way.  This shows me that providing them with a hands-on experience to learn allows the information to sink in.  They remember it and use the knowledge. 

Science in the Kitchen!

My favorite subject is science.  Cooking and baking are big science experiments.  My kids and I were having fun with science today.  We mixed together salt and water and set it in a window so watch over the next few days.  As the water evaporates salts crystals will be left behind and they should cluster and look like snow flakes.  We will see.  We also mixed together sugar, water, and food coloring poured into glasses with sticks hanging in the middle.  Those glasses were also placed in a window so the sugar crystals can gather along the sticks making rock candy.  We will see if that works.  I hope so because it's fascinating looking at the crystals clustering. 

Rock candy. Sugar and water, waiting for crystals to form.

We also made a moon dough that was made of flour and oil.  The kids loved that because they could play with it and mold it. 

After that we put baking soda and vinegar in cups and watch the reaction.  They thought that was pretty amazing.  We actually ran out of vinegar.  My husband came to the rescue though and found out that you may also use lemon juice.  Wow!  I didn't know that.  However, we didn't have any.  But we did have lime juice. We tried it and it worked!  So the kids kept adding baking soda and lime juice until we ran out of juice.  They thought it was so cool.  We discussed how all the ingredients we used today we also use in baking but you can also do fun experiments with them.  The kids told me several items we bake that use the ingredients, such as, cookies, cakes, muffins, and pie crust.     



Mixing baking soda and lime juice.


I was enjoying myself and wanted to continue with the fascinating world of science so I took out a book I have that is about science in the kitchen.  It contains many recipes and explains the scientific aspect of each concept.  They had popcorn recipes so I was looking at those thinking we could make popcorn.  I found out that the kernals have a drop of water inside and when the kernals are heated that water turns to steam and pops open the popcorn!  So cool! So I gathered the kids and told them what I found out and we made some popcorn.  (There is also a popcorn song, so my son started singing.)  We talked about water and steam and we used the tea kettle so they could see the water go in and the steam come out.  We enjoyed eating our popcorn and the kids discussed how the popcorn pops.  

It was a fascinating science day and now I must go buy more vinegar.  I dropped the ball on always be prepared!

My husband to the rescue again! He went to the store and bought more vinegar.  When he returned we poured vinegar into a bottle, put some baking soda inside a balloon attached the balloon to the bottle and watched as the balloon inflated.  The kids were amazed!  After that we poured vinegar into the bottle and added baking soda and watched it fizz up and overflow.  They loved it and we did it many many times.  We also tried putting baking soda in the bottle first then vinegar.  It fizzed but wasn't the same effect as we were getting with the vinegar in the bottle first.



Baking soda and vinegar inflating balloon!

 We all had a fun day with science experiments.  At dinner we each take a turn saying what our favorite thing we did that day was.  My son said, "Doing science experiments with you mom." That made my heart smile.  I think we will be doing more experiments in the near future! Great boredom buster ideas too! 

Healthy Eating

We started cooking journals this week.  The children wrote their names on the front cover and decorated it however they chose.  L colored, W colored multiple colors all over, and M made chicken noodle soup and a lemon.  On our first page we thought back to Saturday when we made bananas.  We discussed how cutting the banana into sections can give you halves or fourths.  They remembered and explained the fractions to me.  So I had them draw a banana and show me it cut in half.  Then draw a banana cut into fourths.  After doing that, my son asked, “What is it called with threes?”  I responded with thirds and we discussed that with an example and they drew that also.  Later on at lunch we only had one string cheese so I asked them how they could share it.  They responded with, “Cut it into threes.”  So I did and they shared. 

For the lesson this week we talked about healthy food.  I explained that a healthy meal should have a meat, fruit, vegetable, grain, and dairy.  I asked them for ideas of healthy foods and they listed some.  After that they drew a healthy food in their journal.  One of their favorite meals is chicken noodle soup.  I mentioned that and right away my son said, “It has chicken!”

 “That’s the meat.  What else do we put in our chicken noodle soup?” I asked.

 M said, “Carrots!” W said, “Celery!” 

 “Those are the veggies.  What else is in the soup?”

 “Juice!” W replied. (Meaning the broth, so I explained that.) “Noodles!”

 “Yes! So we have a meat, vegetable, and grain.  What else do we need for a healthy meal?” I asked.

 M responded, “Fruit!”

 “Great, so we’ll make fruit kabobs. Now we need dairy.  Hmmm…what should we have for dairy?”

  “Milk,” W said. 

I reviewed the meal with them and they were excited to begin cooking.  For the next few minutes we were discussing dairy and the items that are considered dairy and where dairy comes from. 

We made chicken noodle soup discussing each part again as a meat, veggie, and grain.  Next we made fruit kabobs that I think are my favorite.  They are rainbow fruit kabobs.  So we talked about rainbows and the colors that make a rainbow.  The children used strawberries for red, oranges for orange, pineapple for yellow, green grapes for green, blueberries for blue and red grapes for violet.  As they were assembling the kabobs they were deep in thought about the colors so after they were finished they remembered the colors of the rainbow.  I had my son draw a rainbow in his journal and he even wrote the word rainbow. (M was at grandmas.)

I like the idea of journals because the children write down their ideas and it’s good for recall down the road.  As a parent it is fun to see what they have learned and see how they draw and write. 

So far through this project I have found there is an endless amount of concepts that can be learned through cooking.  It is fascinating for everyone involved and everyone has fun with it.  I can tell the vocabularies are growing in my children through this experience.  Also, they remember concepts from week one.  In a couple weeks we will be learning about Germany through a baking activity. So for next week I need to come up with another plan.   

1 Banana, 2 Banana, 3!

Today we made frozen bananas.  I asked the kids to peel the bananas and then slice the bananas into four sections.  They did that and we discussed fourths.  The four sections were too big for dipping in chocolate so I said we would cut them in half.  They took one of the four sections and cut it in half. They noticed when you divide something in half you get two pieces.  The next step was to freeze the bananas so as they placed the pieces on a baking sheet we would say one eighth, two eighth, etc.  I could tell that W and M were understanding cutting things in half to get two pieces.

I am finding that cooking is fascinating that people can learn so much through preparing food.  I was so involved in the process this time that I only took one picture.  I had a brainstorm during this event, that we could also have cooking journals.  With the readings we have been doing that discuss art, creativity, and journals, the idea popped into my head.  This will allow them to be creative, express themselves through drawing, and communicate their ideas with me.  So I think next week we will start this. 

Thinking about the Chex Mix recipe, I think that could be accomplished in a classroom.  It does involve peanut butter and with allergies these days, I don't recommend that.  You may omit the peanut butter and use just the chocolate. The chocolate took one minute to melt in the microwave.  Not very long at all but you do need access to a microwave.  If you don't have access to a microwave then just plain Chex Mix will do.  Each student can even have the opportunity to bring an item in to add to the mix. As long as they participate in putting ingredients together and work on math skills that would be satisfactory.

Frozen bananas will be difficult to make in a classroom, however, students could make their own fruit kabobs.  With this activity they will be slicing fruit and place each piece on a skewer so you are still able to discuss fractions.  Taking fruit on and off the skewer they will be making different fractions. Then when they are finished they can eat it!

I am enjoying the project so far.  I am learning a lot about cooking and all the skills that can be learned.  I am learning how much information children retain when working with items hands-on.  The readings make me realize how important it is to ask questions and let the children be creative, draw, and express their thinking so we know what they are learning.

Fourths cut into halves. 

Update

Yesterday for breakfast M had four strawberries.  She counted them repeatedly up to 24 on her own.  She's working on it and showing improvement each week! 

Math in the kitchen!

This has been an uncreative week for me.  So many things I would like to make and not enough time or energy.  I finally decided on something and I need to break it into two parts this week.  The second part will take place on Saturday so I will post again that night.  For today we started our math in the kitchen with a Chex Mix party mix.  The kids measured, counted, sorted, made patterns, made shapes, and had a lot of fun in the process. 

The recipe is Chex Mix covered with a peanut butter and white chocolate mixture that is poured over the cereal.  Half the cereal is covered with powdered sugar and M&M's and sprinkles were added to the other half (in Valentine colors to be festive).  Then both parts are added together.  During the making of this mix they were able to measure all the ingredients themselves so we talked about 1 cup and 1/2 cup and 1/4 cup.  They counted out 4 1/2 cups.  

Once the mix was combined we had even more fun!  The kids were so excited about this they couldn't wait to taste it!  So we started with a little taste test and then got down to business learning math, I mean having fun playing with our food.  I gave everyone two scoops of the mix and asked them to count how many items they had on their mat.  Everyone had a different number.  My son (5 yrs. old) counted up to 32 no problem.  M (3 1/2 yrs. old) counted to 20 then need assistance on 21 and 27.  She is improving!  L (2 1/2 yrs old) counted to 5 then need assistance. 

After counting we sorted our mix.  It was interesting to see how they sorted their own mix.  My son, W, immediately divided his into piles of white cereal, brown cereal, and M&M's.  M saw what W was doing and divided her piles the same way.  L divided her piles into one pile of cereal and then M&M's separate.  She understood the concept of dividing up the mix and I liked her observation of how to sort it.

After sorting we worked on patterns.  L didn't know what to do and honestly she was more interested in our neighbor's dog in our yard.  The other kids made a pattern and then when they were finished I asked them to make another pattern to see what else they could do.  We also worked on our shapes.  They identified the shapes of the cereal and M&M's.  Next, they made a square, circle, and triangle using the cereal.  W did very well, he created his shapes quickly. M thought about how to make the shapes using the cereal.  She tried making a square but it didn't look like a square so she started over.  She took a little longer to do this task because she needed to think of what the shape looks like and how to make it. 




Counting the mix.





Sorting the mix.

Pattern

Patterns



W's shapes



M's triangle - The one white piece is the point of the triangle 

M's square & circle

Overall they were able to practice their math skills and did very well.  M still needs to work on counting in the 20's. However, she did better than last time!  They learned how to sort and make patterns.  They enjoyed the tasks and we will continue to work on this.  Saturday we will be dividing bananas into several parts...stay tuned.