Learning to cook gives kids a chance to help out at
home. And what kid doesn't love hearing the family compliment
their cooking? What's more, kids often find that food tastes
better when they cook it themselves.
With this in mind Earth's Kids has pulled together
our tried and true favorite recipes for cooking with kids.
We present them here for you to enjoy at home and in the classroom.
While some projects are suitable only for older children (age 9 or
older), most can be done with very young children. And we've
included special tips for doing the projects with preschoolers.
We'll be digging more treasures out of our files
soon, so stop back from time to time to see what we've added.
Clicking one of the section titles above will cause a new page to
open.
Do
you have a recipe to submit?
Great!
We would love to hear from you! If we can use your
recipe we'll post it on one of our cooking pages. Be
sure to let us know how you would like your name listed.
And if you can include a picture of your creation that we
can use, we will credit you for that too. Kids, be
sure to check with your parents and get their permission!
A Note to Parents and Teachers
Cooking can be such an important part of the
learning curriculum. Think of it as a kind of laboratory
science -- there's weighing and measuring, carefully following
directions, observing materials change from one state to another...
But it also encourages vocabulary development, eye-hand
coordination, sensory integration, even patience and self-reliance. And it starts kids learning an
important life skill that will benefit them the rest of their lives. Plus, it's just fun!
And don't forget, cooking together, whether at
home or in the classroom, provides an important opportunity for
social interaction. So whether you're a preschool teacher
trying to teach new vocabulary words and the importance of taking
turns, or just a busy and distracted parent trying to create some
"together time", sharing a cooking project with kids
creates the perfect opportunity.
Finally, cooking requires the exercise of good
hygiene skills. This means refraining from licking the spatula
or etc. (especially at school), and of course washing hands.
So don't
miss our special Earth's Kids Science section:
The Science of Hand Washing.
You'll find great tips,
links, helpful printables and more.
CAUTION: Please
be sure that all children are instructed in safe use of kitchen
equipment and are adequately supervised, appropriate to their age.
We do not recommend allowing children under
12 years old to use a stove or a conventional oven unsupervised.
Please note that many of our projects may be adapted for preschool
age children, however an adult will need to do the actual cooking.
We recommend the use of plastic picnic ware knives when preschoolers
need to cut ingredients.
What we cook depends one what foods we like,
but also on what we have to cook with. After all, you
can't make cheese without milk. And you can't make milk
without some kind of domesticated animal that makes milk, like goats
or cows. This site shows when different plants and animals
became important domesticated (farmed) food stuffs. But
it also shows when different recipes were probably invented.
Click on a food item for even more information.
A collection of fun and useful links for young
cooks and their mentors. Includes sections on kitchen safety,
nutrition, cooking safety, and even recipes.
Changing a recipe so that it makes more, or fewer, servings is a
great way to practice math skills. Comes with
customizable worksheet. Grade 6 and older.
This lesson plan focuses on language skills in designing a menu.
You can follow the plan exactly (for grades 6-8), redesigning an
actual restaurant menu, or use it as inspiration to have your young
chefs create a menu of their own.
A small
but wonderful collection of lesson plans from Neat Solutions for
Healthy Children. Each plan includes ideas for stories, music,
and cooking or other activities that go with the theme of the plan.
Plans include
Let's Do Pizza and
Tortillas, A Wrap! Some plans come with
Spanish language versions.
Here's a great lesson plan/activity to help kids learn about the
different parts of vegetables through an edible feast of roots, leaves,
stems, flowers, and etc. Includes a planting activity.
Make an Abe Lincoln log cabin out of pretzels or make pancakes after
reading If You Give a Pig a Pancake. Fun ideas to tie cooking
projects together with other curriculum.
Based
around a recipe page from The Ashfield Recipe Book this lesson plan
encourages kids to learn about life in the colonial era. Includes
math related activities. For 6th grade and up.
Use the inner scroll bar to view more books and activities.
