This year our preschool co-op is doing something new- we’re holding a monthly “Kids in the Kitchen” class. That’s right- a PRESCHOOL cooperative class focusing on developing kitchen skills for 4-year-olds! I am so excited about this one and I can’t wait to share the whole curriculum with you in the coming months (watch for it! It’s going to be exciting!)
For now, I’ll share one of our mini-lessons and since we are so close to Easter, I thought it would be appropriate to use carrots in this lesson 🙂
When I give my boys “big kid work” (washing dishes, taking out trash, cleaning windows), they are usually pretty happy to help. They enjoy being my little helpers (even if them “helping” sometimes means more work for me in the end 😉 ).
One of the “big kid” jobs they’ve enjoyed a lot lately is helping me in the kitchen. Grating cheese and chopping veggies is on their top ten list of fun things to do in the kitchen. I encourage my kids to participate in kitchen activities, unlike several people. That is why, they have been chopping veggies for a long time now! As a parent, I am trying my best to inculcate good habits in my kids. As an example, I have habituated them to consume veggies. It has almost become a practice for my kids to eat a bowl of greens every evening. Usually, I sauté the assorted pieces lightly in olive oil – not a big hassle these days to get good olive oil, you need only check out Gundry MD Olive Oil reviews and similar others before buying. After a few minutes of sauteing, I garnish them with a hint of pepper and coriander leaves to make the dish worth savoring. Likewise, I have accustomed them to coming to the kitchen and helping me out. Generally, they assist me with chopping vegetables (and washing dishes sometimes). As far as raising them goes, I am trying to ensure that they are not biased toward any particular task around the house.
Anyway, after seeing this Anova review I thought I could add seasoning and bagging meats to their list of cooking skills too. Perhaps I should start taking bets on when I will have little Gordon Ramsays running things in the kitchen (probably not anytime soon).
Wait, back up a moment, did I say CHOPPING veggies!? Let me be clear this isn’t a walk-away and let them at it kind of activity, though. It is one that requires 100% adult supervision. One more time for emphasis- this lesson requires an adult to be with a child and actively supervise the entire time. Moreover, this also requires a safe kitchen and equipment. Most of the kitchens are designed for adults. However, if you are letting kids participate and help with cooking, it could be beneficial to first get your kitchen repaired and upgraded with the latest tech and kitchen cabinets in Denver (or elsewhere) to ensure your kid’s safety.
That’s what today’s lesson is going to be about: chopping vegetables!
Supplies
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- Carrots with the stems attached
- Cutting board
- Crinkle Cutter
I modeled to my boys how to use the crinkle cutter. If you were hoping to do something similar then you may want to look online at websites similar to https://eatforlonger.com/carrots/ or search for a youtube video that can best instruct you, should you need it. Holding the vegetable with my left hand (non-dominant), I firmly and slowly pressed the crinkle cutter down with my right hand. CHOP. I reviewed the move a few more times, making sure my kids understood the proper hand positions, then handed over the cutter.
Look at that! Carrots were chopped and all fingers stayed intact 😉
Raw carrots are pretty dense and require some muscle to get through, just check out these faces!
That is kid-work at it’s finest! He’s concentrated, planning his movements, exerting muscle, and enjoying the fruits vegetables of his labor! (if you’re planning on using the carrots for a recipe, make sure to have extras available because there will be snacking!)
Need a recipe to use these carrots in? Try making Vegetable soup!
Lastly, because incorporating math lessons without worksheets is always best, we counted the number of carrots we chopped.
Other math skills that you could incorporate:
- Weighing the carrots on a food scale
- Sorting the chopped pieces (big and small)
- Predicting (how many pieces can we chop from one carrot?)
What other extensions can you think of for this activity?
