Cooking with preschoolers can be exciting and messy, but is an important opportunity for their social and emotional development as well as their fine motor skills, executive functioning skills and their exposure to healthy and nutritious food choices. As an educator it is important to be the guiding hand behind the meal choices that are made in your program. It is also important to let preschoolers have a range of options to choose from and allow them some freedom of choice in their food items.
Preschoolers begin to value social interactions and are eager to participate in activities that adults often complete. Allowing them the opportunity to work collaboratively with both adults and peers creates an experience which is structured in a comfortable and relaxed way. Food is a universal language and by bringing a common element into a social situation it puts all parties at ease and allows them to bond around this common element.
Adults can encourage social interactions when cooking by asking open ended questions, soliciting conversations between shy children and their peers, sitting children next to new friends, and making jokes or telling stories. When the cooked food is done and ready to eat, serving it family style is a great option to continue these social interactions.
Watch the video below of a preschool class learning about nutrition and cooking and then answer the worksheet question next to it.
|
|
Video: Teaching Preschool Students How to Cook
Source: By Rutgers Today Length: 1:55 |
- Cooking with Preschool Children, KidsHealth by The Nemours Foundation
- Snacks for Preschoolers, KidsHealth by The Nemours Foundation
- Cooking with Preschool Children in Licensed Child Care, Farm to Preschool, Growing Minds is a program of ASAP (Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project)
Enroll in Washington Child Care Training Courses
Successful Solutions Training in Child Development
Copyright 2019. Successful Solutions Professional Development LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Student support 7 days a week, including most holidays!
Copyright 2019. Successful Solutions Professional Development LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Student support 7 days a week, including most holidays!
Times shown are Pacific Standard Time. If you are in Central or Eastern Time, you will need to adjust the time accordingly.
|
New Enrollments Set-Up
|
|
Registrations that are submitted after enrollment hours will be processed the next morning. You will receive an email with your log-in information to access the course within an hour after we open the next business day.