Cooking up a Story! Cooking with Preschool Children Provides Many Unseen Benefits
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Cooking up a Story! Cooking with preschool children provides many unseen benefits. First, it’s fun and they have your undivided attention. It doesn’t always mean using the stove or oven! (See the Dinosaur sandwich recipe I have placed in your child’s kit this week) With cooking activities, preschoolers will: -Improve their self-help skills by preparing and serving their own snacks. (This also prepares them for future school snacks and lunchtime) -Learn about nutrition and food choices. -Develop small motor control and coordination (as they mix and pour and scoop), eye-hand coordination (by pouring, cracking eggs, measuring). -Develop math skills by measuring, counting number of teaspoons of an ingredient, etc. -Discover reading print in a recipe gives them direction. -Develop a great sense of pride because they “made it themselves”! ************************************************************************ One of MY favorite books here at the library which I HIGHLY recommend is Fairy Tale Feasts! It tells fairy tales followed by a recipe for that story. My granddaughters and I have cooked several of them. They have even eaten foods they normally would not have tried, that’s Awesome!! Fairy Tale Feasts: A Literary Cookbook for Young Readers and Eaters Some Cooking Recipes to Get You Started Strawberry and Cream Cheese Crackers Ingredients and materials needed: Crackers Low or non-fat cream cheese Strawberries Plastic Knives 1. Allow the cream cheese to sit out for about 10 minutes to soften (the cream cheese in the tub is more "spread-able" than the square of it!). 2. Have the children slice the strawberries. 3. Children spread cream cheese on crackers and then place strawberries on top! Fruit Salad Of course, fruit salad is always fun to make and a great way to encourage the children to try new fruits! Ingredients and materials needed: Plastic knives, vegetable peeler (for you to use!), a large bowl and small serving bowls, large serving spoon, and of course a wide variety of fruits! Some favorites to try are: banana, kiwi, strawberry, apples, oranges (and mandarin oranges), raisins, blueberries, and any others you'd like to try with the kids! Encourage them to try each fruit--you may have to try each one first! "I'm going to try some Kiwi...mmmm..I like Kiwi. Who knew fruit salad could be so much fun?! Vegetables and Dip Try test-tasting vegetables that your child has prepared! You'll need cherry or grape tomatoes, baby carrots, broccoli, red and orange peppers and cucumbers (add any others that you'd like to try with the kids!) and some low or non-fat ranch dressing. Rinse the vegetables with your child. Have them try to cut what they can (peppers, cucumbers and the tomatoes) and break off pieces of broccoli. Place it into a large bowl. Have it outside on a blanket while you taste test them together! .