A quick word about cooking with your nursery school aged child!

Young children love to prepare and cook foods. This week we will look at some of the benefits of cooking with your child and I will share with you a recipe for a snack we like to make at Thanksgiving time.

But, first the benefits of sharing time in the kitchen. 

Physical Development:  Small motor skills such as slicing, chopping, dicing and whisking help to develop pincher control which is needed for writing.  Large motor muscles are developed in rolling, mixing and pouring. Another added benefit is developing good eye hand coordination.

Early mathematical skills: You will be counting and measuring.  Volume, fractions, numbers, size, and shape are all skills that can be developed while cooking with your nursery school aged child. Practicing mathematical vocabulary and concepts such as less than, equal to, and as much as are easily accomplished while in the kitchen. Children learn sequencing and time in making a dish.

Science Skills:  While you are cooking you will explore the concepts of temperature (hot-cold), liquid to solid and solid to liquid, cause and effect, and making predictions. You will be using your senses of touch, taste, smell and sight.

Social Development:  In this area your child will learn working together cooperatively and sharing space. He/she will be gaining self confidence while using kitchen tools appropriately.  Your child will learn and then practice kitchen rules for safety.  Self control and patience are additional areas of learning in the kitchen.

Language development:  Your young child will be developing important pre-literacy skills. Building vocabulary is natural. Don’t you just love it when a young child whips out a “big” word?  Don’t be afraid to use words like sauté and julienne. You will be modeling functional reading when pointing out that words make up the ingredient list, and instructions that make up a recipe.  Your child will be listening to follow directions, and recognize sequential events.

Social Science:   There are many children’s books that depict other cultures and their foods! Learn how to make something from a culture other than your own.  Ethnic foods are just one area where you can practice diversity and acceptance.

Have fun in the kitchen!

Thanksgiving turkey chocolate dipped pretzel

Sugar Cookie Recipe

1 cup butter, softened

2/3 cup sugar

1 large egg

¼ teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon of salt

1 ½ teaspoon vanilla

2 1/3 cups all purpose flour

Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until very fluffy and well blended.  Add and beat in the egg baking powder, salt and vanilla until evenly mixed. Stir in flour until well blended and smooth.

Or buy a mix and follow the instructions

Confectioners Frosting Recipe

4 cups confectioner’s sugar (icing or powdered sugar), sifted

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

4tablespoons milk or light cream

Assorted food colors (if desired)

Or buy a can and open

Other ingredients

Pretzel rods

8 oz bag of chocolate chips or microwavable dipping chocolate

White frosting

Food coloring

Supplies

 Mixing bowls and mixing spoons

Measuring cups and measuring spoons

Double boiler

Baking sheet

Skewers

First make your sugar cookie

Divide the dough into smaller balls for coloring. I used 4 colors so I made 4 small balls. 

Add food coloring and mix each ball separately.

  

 Blend all your smaller colored balls gently. Be careful not to over mix.

 

Flour a flat surface. Gently roll out your dough, again be careful not to over mix.  Use a leaf shaped cookie cutter to cut the cookies. A circle would work as well.

 

                   

Use a double boiler to melt you chocolate chips. Add a little tablespoon of butter, margarine or oil if the chocolate seems too thick for dipping.      

                                                                                             

Set up for the next step. Lie your cookies out on a cookie sheet. I used bamboo shish k bob skewers to make the pretzel level with the cookie for a solid chocolate bond. You don’t want your cookie to fall off!

Now dip the pretzel rod into the melted chocolate, stick it to the cookie and let harden. 

                                                                    Mix up white frosting. With food color make one third

of the frosting yellow and one third of it red.

 Leave the remaining one third white.

 

 

 

 

 

Now you are ready to pipe on two eyes, a beak and a wattle. If you do not have a pastry bag, snip a hole in the corner of a plastic sandwich bag. Let dry and enjoy!