September 13 - Kids Take Over the Kitchen Day
SEPTEMBER 13TH IS “KIDS TAKE OVER THE KITCHEN DAY”
In our Screenless Activities: Quick Recipes blog post, we discussed how beneficial it is to cook with your kids, and how uncomplicated it has to be. There are A TON of lovely children’s books that even have recipes! A good example is on the READ ALOUD section of our Common Ground Youtube Channel. Blue’s Clues Read Aloud: Blue Makes Breakfast. (We will have a list of Teacher Recommended books about food with recipes at the bottom of this blog! Don’t forget to scroll down!)
There is nothing more bolstering to a child, more comforting, more healthy, than quality time with you.
In our busy lives, this can feel hard to come by. We spend A LOT of time with our children! With school, extracurriculars, work, and finding time to breathe on our own, this can feel daunting. But Conscious Discipline says that even FIVE MINUTES of undivided attention a day can make all the difference in the world.
NAEYC has an incredible list of Quality Time Tips for Meaningful Days that basically boils down to: Noticing the positive, expressing affection, special rituals for daily quality time, letting them choose your activities, and putting technology away so your attention is only on each other. Utilize this CELLPHONE PARKING in your home for meals, games, books, walks with your family.
One of the tips is to take the time to EAT with your child! Does this sound stressful because of a picky-eater? You can give them some of the power they crave in that interaction by allowing them to COOK/PREPARE DINNER with you.
Provide them choices that give them power, but are within parameters you set. If they are not fans of vegetables, give them an option of vegetables to choose from and cook. “Would you like to cook broccoli, carrots, or snow peas tonight with dinner?” “Do you want to make the bbq chicken or the meatloaf?” “Which fruit from these options could go with what you have chosen?”
It is going to take them longer, and there will be more mess. We are constantly in the current of busy-ness. Cooking may feel like it takes forever already without a kid taking forever to break an egg (INTO the bowl… with the shells… and now it’s all over their fingers…) and spilling flour all over the place. This is how they learn. Think of every shaky letter and number they’ve ever drawn that you cheered over, and cheer over their stirring, their sifting, their pouring in the same way. Maybe they never develop a true passion for cooking… but they will learn to love learning. They will know that you are their champion, and that you support their process every step of the way. *Bonus* You can teach them how to clean up their messes, and give them more responsibility!!
They may not be interested, They may not want to try the food, et cetera. This is okay! Invite them to join you, allow them to “parallel play” if they want to be in the kitchen, but not engaging. Explain what you are doing step by step. These kinds of activities almost never go as planned, and sometimes do not go as well as you hope. The point is that quality time, that expression of patience. Still give them choices over what you make, still offer them the chance in the future. Teaching them that they have autonomy and how to express their choices with strength and kindness is also an incredible lesson.
Mistakes are Science. Does your kid want to use baking powder instead of baking soda or vice versa? cut the batter in half and let them try both. Do they want to double the amount of sugar? Do they want to try to add something odd to the sauce? Our instincts are to immediately say no. Treat moments like this like improv: “Yes, and-” is your friend here. OBVIOUSLY keep them safe, don’t let them play with boiling water or eat raw chicken. But letting them have a little leeway for experimentation, especially if it’s just this one day, or once in awhile, is a positive experience.
Cooking is a chance to tell Family Stories. Family Recipes are often inextricably tied to Family Traditions and happy holiday memories. There are recipes with cultural and religious significances that tie important lessons to a tangible experience. Cooking can be a history lesson! Connect your digital-native child to their great-great-great grandfather who kept their master-chef recipes written in a water-logged journal. Humans have changed between generations… but everybody has to eat.
There are a ton of poignant children’s stories with recipes in them.
We use a lot of them in the Creative Curriculum too! See below:
Peeny Butter Fudge by Toni Morrison and Slade Morrison. There is no one like Nana in the whole wide world. She is the best. Nana knows how to take an ordinary afternoon and make it extra special! Nap time, story time, and playtime are transformed by fairies, dragons, dancing, and pretending -- and then mixing and fixing yummy, yummy fudge just like Nana and Mommy did not so many years ago....
Every Color Soup by Jorey Hurley. All you need is a pot, a spoon, an adult helper, and vegetables of many colors to make a very special soup—Every Color Soup! Learn colors and vegetable names in this bright and colorful picture book with minimal text perfect for the beginning reader. Jorey Hurley’s bright, graphic art and simple text make this vibrant book a perfect read-aloud for budding cooks and their families. This lively picture book also comes with a recipe!
Apple Sauce Day by Lisa Amstutz. Applesauce Day is here! Maria and her family visit an apple orchard and pick apples. Then it's time to turn the apples into applesauce. Every year they use a special pot that has been in the family for generations. Follow along as everyone helps to make delicious applesauce.
Kalamata’s Kitchen by Sarah Thomas. This book does not have recipes, but encourages trying new things and experiencing foods from around the world! Tomorrow is Kalamata's first day at a new school, and she's nervous! What if the kids aren't friendly? Or worse, what if they don't like alligators!? If only Kalamata and Al Dente could go to back to the Indian spice market they visited this summer, then maybe she'd remember how to feel brave when new experiences seem scary.
The Empanadas that Abuela Made by Diane Gonzalez Bertrand. A whimsical look at the making of empanadas serves up the festive fun of a family’s effort to concoct the delicious pastries, with an easy empanada recipe included.
Cora Cooks Pancit by Dorina Gilmore. Cora loves being in the kitchen, but she always gets stuck doing the kid jobs like licking the spoon. One day, however, when her older sisters and brother head out, Cora finally gets the chance to be Mama's assistant chef. And of all the delicious Filipino dishes that dance through Cora's head, she and Mama decide to make pancit, her favorite noodle dish.
Bee Bim Bop! by Linda Park. A Korean American girl celebrates food and family in this cheerful book about cooking a special meal by Newbery Medalist Linda Sue Park.
Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story By Kevin Maillard. Fry Bread is elegantly written with lovingly rendered pictures that evoke family and love on every page. It’s all about cooking to be connected to the past while moving forward together.
Star Wars: Galactic Baking. These are NOT PICTURE BOOKS. They do not have a story! But any Star Wars Cookbooks that you can get your hands on are so fun, silly, weird, and worthwhile. Star Wars is loved by so many people young and old, and it is such a fun way to connect responsibility and learning to ADVENTURE and IMAGINATION STATION.
Sesame Street Let’s Cook! These are also not picture books, but they are an EXCELLENT introduction to cooking for young chefs.
PLEASE share your experiences, your stories, and, most importantly, YOUR RECIPES with us! We will share more recipes on our social media leading up to September 13th. We would love to someday build a Common Ground Cookbook from our BIG, SHARED COMMON GROUND FAMILY.
Love Love Love,
Your CG Chefs