OVERVIEW
Prep time: 5 minutes
Difficulty: Medium
Estimated Cost: Home-based objects
Mess level: Medium
Ideas on what to make
Spreading cheese on crackers/English muffins/bagels.
Baking bread/muffins/scones.
Slicing fruit (apples, bananas, melon)
Peeling & slicing hard-boiled eggs.
Squeezing citrus to make juice or flavored water.
Making guacamole.
Sorting fruit.
Slicing cheese.
Instructions:
Their are 100s of different things a child can help you with the kitchen - if you would like more details on this please get in touch.
Good to know:
Montessori classroom prepare food as part of their daily routine and use real glasses, silverware, cloth napkins, and plates.
Benefits:
Food preparation activities for children, especially between the ages of 0-3 years, are not only fun to do and observe, but they are also so important for a young child’s development.
Food preparation activities allow a child to
Feel a sense of belonging to their community
Support the development of their coordinated movements
Learn to care for themselves.
Kitchen play-sets and pretend food can be fun, but they don’t offer nearly the learning benefits that cooking with real food does. Giving a child the opportunity to understand and engage in the process of preparing a meal is so an important Montessori practice.
Cooking with real food allows a child to understand where food comes from.
Sensorial education helps a child understand food and where it comes from. Additionally, these activities are opportunities for language development.