Every year, in October, the children in the school-age program can choose a special snack for Halloween. In the past few years, they have chosen "Worms and Dirt," which consists of a chocolate pudding with chocolate cookie crumbles and gummy worms. This year, the educators asked the children what they would like, asking them to think of a different one from last year. Then, they decided on Rice Krispies, and they would make decorations with icing.
Instead of buying the treat from the supermarket and just decorate, we decided to make our own. So, one afternoon, all the children went to Food Basics with the educators to buy the ingredients. We walked around the store, having the children help find, pick up and put everything we needed in our cart. When it was time to pay, the children helped pass the items to the cashier and put them all in our wagon.
The next day, it was time to do our special treat. We used marshmallows, a box of Rice Krispies cereal and butter. The children were involved in all parts of the making process. Each child got a turn to put the ingredients in bowls, heat them and mix. Madison was the ‘educator's assistant,’ helping with all the processes and ensuring the others were paying attention and getting a turn. First, we had to melt the marshmallows and the butter, so Catherine and Lincoln used the microwave. As it should heat for one minute, the children discussed if they should put 60 or 1:00 on the microwave, and they figured out that either way would be the same time. The second step was mixing the heated ingredients and the cereal, which was also done by taking turns. The last part involved putting the mixture in a container to let it sit overnight.
Through cooking, children can develop essential life skills, such as fine motor skills, they used hand-eye coordination and fine motor control to measure and put the ingredients in the bowl and use the kitchen tools/appliances safely; it teaches them patience as it required time to get ready for eating and focus on following all the instructions. Among many other benefits, cooking creates memories and can be an enjoyable and educational activity for children of all ages.
The school-age group had a great time preparing their special Halloween snack and eating it since this was something they made themselves, and they were so proud of it. Then, we cannot wait to see what else can we cook together.
