I love doing food preparation activities with my kids because of some of these reasons:
1. My kids are truly engaged and excited about it. For this reason alone, it is already half the battle.
2. There are so many lessons to learn from one activity (i.e. math, fine motor, sensory, organization, values, etc.).
3. It's an activity that both my kids (ages 4 and 2) could participate in, and learn from at their own level.
3. There is "fruit" to our labor--- we get dinner!
Today, we got stuck in traffic for a long time and it was 87 degrees out there! When we finally arrived home, I was having a splitting headache. I needed something to preoccupy my kids, and I needed to prepare for dinner. It was one of those stressful afternoons for me....
So, I opened the refrigerator door and TA-DAH! I found these beautiful Chinese Watercress! I put my kids to work! I took two big bowls out, and told my kids to pluck out the leaves from the stem.
From this food preparation experience, we learned:
1. Cooking: How to prepare Chinese Watercress.
2. Fine Motor: I always tell my kids to use their "helping hands". I believe that one of the most important values I want to instill in my children is the ability to find purpose in what they do. And the purpose does not always have to be so big. It may be as simple as putting food at the table, or as big as making a difference in the world. Our hands have to move with purpose. They are ours to do good for ourselves and others.
3. Cooperative Work: I believe that allowing our children the opportunities to have shared experiences with their siblings or peers will encourages them to become more aware of others. It will also encourage social interaction, communication, and promote a sense of purpose and unity.
4. Sorting Skills: I have asked my kids to put all the leaves in the metal bowl, and all the stalks in the clear plastic bowl. You can consider this a "math" skill, or an organization skill. Building organizational skills is a prerequisite to successful self-management and academic learning.
5. Values: When we sit together touching the plant, we learn to appreciate the food that is given to us. We appreciate the people who grew them and brought them to us, and we appreciate nature that nurtures us.
From today's experience, we learned:
1. Community integration: I always believe that having a sense of community and an appreciation for the people in our community is an essential value my children need to have. Our conversation while in the store involved the farmers who planted the vegetables, and how we should not waste our food because people have worked hard to grow them and bring them to the market.
2. Counting: In this photo, I asked my daughter to pick 8 cucumbers. She initially had 3 in the bag, so we had to do a simple subtraction which was "You already have 3 in your bag, and I need 8. So 8-3 is?", and we counted with our fingers and got 5! Coming up with the right answer is not the priority right now. The focus is showing her how numbers are used in everyday life!
3. Using senses (to pick the best veggies): In this photo, I asked her to find the cucumbers that were firm and dark green. I thought this was worth putting in here, cause it's such a mother to daughter moment, teaching her the tricks of the trade... and also for me to just give her the guidance but to step back and allow her to trust her own ability to make judgement of which would be considered a good cucumber. Of course when we got home, not all the cucumbers were "firm and dark green" as I would like it to be... but... You get my point.
4. Food preparation: It's a life skill. I believe that teaching our kids to be as independent as they possibly can is the best gift we can offer our children. Allowing them to participate in food preparation can make children be more willing to eat the food they prepared, build self-esteem, and understand that doing things together is what a family does.
*I know many parents are nervous about the knife. My daughter has been chopping veggies since she was 2, so I trust her more now in handling the knife. But if you're nervous about it, start with a table knife. Make sure you model the proper way of handling it. Teach his/her to stabilize the food on the chopping board, and always be by his/her side to supervise safety (only safety. Let your child do the rest).
5.Fine motor: Engaging in fine motor exercises develops a prerequisite skill for successful writing experience in the future. It's also a life skill. Having good fine motor also helps kids develop confidence in performing simple tasks like unbuttoning their pants, putting their shoes on, etc.
6, Fractions: While cutting up the vegetables. I showed her how to cut the mushrooms into cubes. "First you cut the whole mushroom into half, then you cut the half and make them into quarters. You see how they are 4 now? When you put the 4 together, what do we get?--- 1 whole mushroom!" She was excited to do her own math experiment, making a whole to half and quarters. I think it's never too early to introduce math concepts in our daily experiences.
