Where do vegetables come from? A connection between gardens and the food we eat.

This week’s lesson was on gardens.  Through my literature review I learned that when children grow vegetables themselves and help harvest the vegetables they are more willing to try new foods.  We have a garden in our back yard that we plant tons of vegetables in each spring.  My children love digging the holes and planting, watering, and they especially like harvesting the vegetables.  Usually the vegetables don’t make it into the house because they have eaten them right in the garden. 

Since it is winter and we can’t garden, we discussed what types of foods come from a garden and which foods come from animals.  I set out different foods on our kitchen table and the kids sorted them into each category.  Even my two year old held up chicken and said, “Animal!” She understood the types of foods.  This lead to our discussion about what we grow in our garden and there are farmers who grow food on their farms.  We chose tomatoes for an example.  We grow tomatoes in our garden and farmers also grow tomatoes.  I asked them what can be made from tomatoes and they responded with spaghetti sauce, salsa, and ketchup.  I asked, “How do you think you make ketchup?”  My son responded, “You need tomatoes.”  I asked where tomatoes come from and they told me the garden.  “How do they grow? What do they need?” W and M responded with water, dirt, sun, and seeds.  Then they explained the steps of making ketchup.  “You need tomatoes, you pick those and then you cut them up, cook them, put them in a blender and put all that juice in a jar for ketchup.”  

 I had them draw pictures of the process, since our reading discussed drawing.  I thought maybe it would help them express their ideas. 





My son's drawing of tomato picking with a ladder.

 

L's drawing - she colored the whole paper front & back.



 

M's drawing of each step: the tomato, the hands picking the tomatoes, blender, and a jar of ketchup.



After that we made meatloaf which was perfect after our discussion of animals and plants.  They identified each ingredient and told me where it came from.  Included in the recipe was ketchup so they of course were telling me what ketchup was made of and how to make it.  They were so excited and thought it was amazing. 

As a teacher I know it’s best to give the children multiple ways to express themselves so they have the opportunity to understand and communicate in their best way.  I was glad I asked questions and had them draw pictures.  My son is very chatty and a thinker.  So the question part was perfect for him.  My daughters answered questions as well and were able to express their thoughts.  But when they drew pictures I became interested in observing behaviors.  My daughters love to color and draw.  My three year old drew a detailed picture of each step in making ketchup.  My two year old scribbled; however, she used all the space.  My five year old son, he drew a tomato and then a ladder and became more interested in drawing the ladder and talking about how to carefully pick the tomatoes so they don’t mush.  If the children were assessed only on drawing pictures then it would be thought my son didn’t know the process.  Therefore, I was glad I asked questions so he had the opportunity to answer verbally and express his thoughts.  He was way more detailed verbally.

 

Motor skills

This week my son is Star of the Week.  He is very excited and we have been preparing his poster and objects to bring in for class.  Also, he is snack friend this week.  I like to coordinate the snack to what the children are learning that day.  However, since he is Star of the Week I thought we would make a star snack.  We made star Jell-o jigglers in his favorite color and we made star graham crackers.  I decided to use the graham cracker recipe as our lesson this week.  There are so many concepts to learn through baking so I am breaking them down and focusing on one concept each week.  This week I focused on basics, motor skills. 

I gave the children directions and let them pour, scoop, cut, roll, use the cookie cutter, and turn the mixer on.  They enjoyed themselves and felt completely involved in the process.  While adding ingredients to the bowl we discussed certain ingredients such as brown sugar because it was different than the white sugar we bake with, and wheat flour. 

Measuring honey.

While the little chefs were busy pouring, measuring, and cutting I observed them.  I watched how they poured honey into the measuring cup.  They all paid attention to which line to fill up to. 
I watched how my son held the knife to cut the butter and how he took his time and concentrated to be sure he was careful while cutting. 









Adding water to the mix.

 I noticed that my three year old daughter was able to pour the flour and water into the bowl without spilling.  That is an improvement since October.  My two year old daughter was able to scoop brown sugar into the measuring cup and put the sugar into the mixing bowl.  While they were mixing ingredients I also heard discussion between them.  They were working out who would do each task.  Also, when my son cut the butter, the wrappers needed to be removed.  Between them they decided that the oldest two kids (who were the furthest from the mixer) would unwrap the butter and the youngest would put the butter into the mixer.  It was a nice assembly line.  My son and daughter held the cube of butter in one hand and with the other hand used two fingers to pull the wrapper off. 



Removing the wrapper.



                                                                     

Slicing butter.



 They all took turns using the star cookie cutter and then we needed to count the stars to make sure we had enough for the class.  This part was great for my two year old.  She counts items and will miss numbers, so my son tells her what number she missed.  It was good for her to count along with us and hear the numbers.  It was also nice for my three year old to count to twenty.  She missed sixteen and nineteen, so her brother helped her out.  When we got past twenty she became quiet so that tells me she doesn’t know those numbers yet.

This was the first time making graham crackers and they were excited.  Fortunately we had extra so they could taste them.  They all loved them! I am glad since we’re taking them to school!

After the kitchen was cleaned and we were sitting at the table I asked them what they learned from baking graham crackers. I was just curious to hear what they would say.  My son said he learned about brown sugar.  “You need to pack the sugar and the color helps make the graham crackers brown.” 

I have seen improvements with their motor skills since the fall.  I can’t wait to see how much they improve in the next eight weeks!  I learned so much about these three chefs in just one baking activity.  I can take this information and use it the next time to continue their learning. 



Pouring ingredients into measuring spoons. 



Kids in the kitchen!

Cooking with kids. A neccessity, so much fun, and such a great learning experience.  I have three children and to keep them out of trouble so they aren't fighting or causing messes around the house, I include them in the meal preparation.  They have a chance to be helpful, they learn life skills they will use forever, and I only need to clean the kitchen afterwards instead of the entire house!  I like using activities to teach concepts and with baking and cooking I was curious how much children really learn.  My mom had us over for dinner this week and she said the kids would make dinner and dessert for everyone.  So I thought what a great way to start my cooking blog...Taco Tuesday!

The little chefs chopping veggies.

The final product!

Enjoying a taco she made herself!

 They had so much fun and they were so proud of what they did.  They sliced, diced, and ripped lettuce.  We had so much fun as a family.  I am looking forward to the weeks to come to find out how children learn and develop through cooking.