Although having toddlers ‘help’ in the kitchen, isn’t really helpful, it is lots of kindergarten readiness learning and fun. Kids can learn so much by being involved and part of the action, although it takes extra caution and supervision on the part of adults.
For some Halloween fun, how about a jack-o-lantern smoothie? A grownup can slice off a bit of orange at the top. Scooping out the inside of the orange is quite messy and juicy so it’s better for older hands to do that part, but smaller hands can use a plastic knife to slice a banana. Pop the orange insides and banana slices into the blender until nice and smooth. To make the face on the orange requires something pointy. A cup from a toy dish set or other small container that fits inside the orange holds the smoothie. Cut a hole in the center of the orange slice, pop on top of the orange, slide in a straw and enjoy. My kitchen drawer didn’t have any green straws, so we used the top of a wiggly one just for the picture. The cup was so small it had to be refilled several times but that was part of the fun, too.
The recipe ingredients are an orange and a banana and these are some of the learning ingredients:
- Kids use and practice lots of language as they listen to directions, ask questions and tell about what they are doing.
- There’s lots of extra vocabulary such as stir, mix, blender, slice and more.
- Measuring and counting are early math skills, as well as comparing to see bigger, smaller, and the same (equal).
- Another skill used is organizing. Getting things out and putting them away, knowing where items belong, and having a space to work are important organizational skills.
- All that mixing and stirring and other action help kids learn some basic science. What does an orange look like inside? When we slice a banana does it look the same as an orange? Oranges have seeds. What do seeds do?
- Working together needs social skills such as sharing, taking turns and, sigh, waiting to taste and lick the spoon.
- As kids use tools for stirring, mixing, and spreading there are developing small muscles that they will need for later writing.
- Even though kids are not yet reading words, they can read the pictures on recipes. This helps develop the understanding that pictures and later words have meaning.
Helping with cooking and the washing up, too, is the extra special ingredient of feeling valued. Kids also like knowing that they can contribute to the care of others in the family. A little messy and time-consuming, this recipe is like a family, would you agree?