Cooking with your class is not only fun but teaches responsibility, good nutrition and provides sensory and tactile learning experiences. It’s also great for math skills such as counting, weighing, measuring, etc. Cooking with your students builds vocabulary and helps with sequencing, following directions and listening skills. It’s great for ELL students because of the conversations we have when we are cooking and eating. And let’s be honest, it’s all about having fun and building community and relationships with your students!
Cooking In Kindergarten!
When I first started teaching Kindergarten one thing that I started doing was cooking with my class. Now, none of my classrooms came equipped with a kitchen, so we had to build one. And by build a kitchen, I mean we got a toaster oven, hot plate, griddle and lots of cooking utensils such as spatulas, spoons, measuring cups and measuring spoons, knives (yes we have knives in our classroom…) an electric tea pot to make hot water! Our supplies were funded through a Donors Choose project.
One question I get a lot is how do I pay for our Foodie Fun Friday snacks? Well mostly we pay for them out of our pocket. Yes it can be pricey. But it’s worth it to have those experiences and memories with my kids. Here are two ideas for getting help with the funding: Ask for $2 from each parent on Monday. Usethe money to purchase your supplies and then I only had to cover the remaining costs. I also started sending home notes with each child asking for specific items. I found that this works better. Sending a note home with all of your students asking for Twinkies meansyou end up with 16 boxes of those delicious spongy treatsandthen you have to eat all 16 boxes. True story.
What About Allergies?
And let’s just address the allergy issue now. I send home TWO different information forms for parents to fill out. Each of those forms has allergy information included. Our district also sends home health forms. I know if any of my students have allergies and what those allergies are. When we have an allergy in our class, we adjust our Foodie Fun Friday activities accordingly. Do I stop cooking with my class? NO! We just modify the snack so everyone is safe and can participate and enjoy the goodness that we cook up!
Friendship Salad is a great tool for building community at the beginning of the year. Click the image to see our original post about Friendship Salad and get the recipe!
School Bus cookies are the very first snack we make! We make these on our 2nd day ofschool. Making the cookies are a great way to get students excited about school and a great memory for the beginning of the school year. Yes we use plastic knives on day 2. No one gets hurt. And it’s a great glimpse into their fine motor skills! (Click the image for more on our bus cookies!)
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom snacks are a great way to end our CCBB unit! Graham crackers, green apples, Whoppers and animal cracker letters (Publix and WalMart)!
Scarecrow Snacks! Tortilla, refied beans mixed with salsa and sour cream, olives, cheese and tortilla chips!
Bat Snacks! Oreos, Doritos, candy eyes or M&Ms and candy corn fangs!
Spider Snack! Oroes, pretzels and candy eyes!
Mini Pumpkin Pies! Mini crusts in the backing section, pumpkin and vanilla pudding. (Click image for recipe)
Halloween snacks! Jack-o-lantern teeth. Monster scabs. Ghost poop. Witch warts! Click the image for your free labels!
Firetruck cookies! Graham crackers, red icing, Twizzlers for the water hoses, Vanilla Wafers for the wheels and chocolate graham crackers for the window.
Stone soup! Everyone brings in a can of vegetables. We add those to chicken broth. Season with salt and pepper. Add a stone. When serving I choose a deserving student to get the stone!
Native American Fish Snack! After learning how the Native Americans helped the Pilgrims we made this snack showing how putting fish in the ground helps crops grow!
Penguin Snacks! Townhouse Crackers, olives, cream cheese and carrots!
Polar Bear! Vanilla ice cream cup, vanilla wafers and chocolate chips!
Groundhog snack! Pudding, Oreos, Vanilla wafers
Rainbow toast! Bread, milk and food coloring. Use food coloring to color the milk. Students paint the rainbow milk on their bread using new paint brushes. Toast!
Shamrock Shake! Sprite and lime sherbert!
Leprechaun chow! Chex, mint M&Ms, powdered sugar and Andes Mints! (Click the image for your free label)
Rain cloud snack! Whipped cream and blueberries!
Submarine snack! Twinkies, Fruit Loops and icing and a bendy straw for the periscope!
Ocean Water and Ocean snacks! (Click the image for the recipe for ocean water!) Ocean is blue jello and whip cream!
Luau snack! Vanilla pudding, vanilla wafers and paper umbrellas!
Tops and bottoms salad! Read the book Tops And Bottoms and use the plants from the book to make a salad!
Eat the parts of a plant!
Presidential snacks! Bananas and graham crackers to make log cabins after learning about Abe Lincoln!
Ants On A Log! Celery, cream cheese and raisins!
Bagel pizzas! Bagels, pizza sauce, cheese and pepperonis!
Turtles! Apples and grapes! Cut the apple in half and use toothpicks to insert the grapes for the head and legs! (Great for fairy tales and folk tales!)
American Flag snack! Toast first. Cream cheese, strawberry jelly and blueberries!
BunnyBait! Chex, M&Ms, pretzels, and white chocolate!
M&M stoplights! Great for community helpers and learning about colors!
Porridge! Just oatmeal. Great for fairy tales and folk tales!
Animals On Parade! Celery, cream cheese and animal crackers!
