Everything I've learned from 6 years in the classroom & kitchen with young children.
Food prep is one of my favorite parts of classroom life. There's nothing more satisfying than baking a loaf of bread from scratch with a group of children, or watching a two year old wash, cut, and serve herself a fruit salad for snack. It's also a great way to get kids to eat things they might not be a fan of normally. Something about making food with your own hands makes it tastier.
I know I've probably already lost a lot of parents to nightmares about flour on every surface and inedible food at "baking bread with kids". It's okay! We definitely don't need to start there. Or ever get there. The best part about Montessori practical life is that at it's core, it's really just including your child a little bit more in daily life and your home rhythms every day, in ways that make them feel good about themselves and (most importantly) help you feel good too.
Getting Started: Think of a meal or treat you've made at home a hundred times: let's say pancakes. Could your child pour in the milk if you put it in a small cup for them first? Great! Start there. Could they scoop the mix in from another small bowl? Smell the vanilla and dump in a tablespoon? Stir the batter?
There are plenty of ways to get kids involved in food prep. Here are a few tips I've picked up over the years. Modify and apply them to your own comfort level and home life, and as long as you've got these in mind, you'll have a great time.
Mindset.
Montessori is all about the prepared adult. In my classroom environment, I always take a few moments before every food prep activity to make sure I have everything I need close by, that the mood of the room is somewhat calm, and that I'm ready mentally to sit down and give my full attention to what we're doing.
Especially the first few times you try cooking with your child, try to make sure it's at a calm time of day when you have plenty of time to slow down and clean up afterwards, because messes will happen. Don't expect this to be a clean activity, but you can look forward to modeling for your child that messes are a part of cooking and how they can clean them up.
Plan Ahead.
I like to decant all the ingredients I will need into smaller containers and lay them out before I ever invite children to come work with me, for a few reasons.
- This will reduce the chance of spilling if children aren't wresting with the entire milk carton, for example. If they do spill, it'll be a much more manageable amount.
- Small children love to dump and do not fully understand estimation or restraint. This way, if they dump in all the cinnamon at once the recipe isn't ruined.
- Little hands, little containers. Children will feel confident while handling tools and containers that are made for them.
- This reduces the amount of times you'll need to get up and grab something, leaving a two year old alone with that tempting, tempting bowl full of batter just waiting to be sampled/dumped on the ground/bathed in.
Child Sized Tools
Young children want to do exactly what they see us doing. This is where the popularity of play kitchens and fake vacuums comes from. Much more satisfying for the child, however, is using a real whisk or knife to prepare real food.
Child sized tools can be found online or at thrift shops very reasonably, and you can raid your kitchen for teaspoons and other miniature utensils. The biggest thing to keep in mind is that we're going for functional, appropriately sized, and as close as possible to what they see you using. Below is an assortment of food prep tools I keep in my classroom. Toddlers and knives is a different post, but all of the knives we use are blunt-tipped, safe, and can slice through soft foods like fruits & cheese no problem. Now, do you need all of this? Absolutely not. This is my personal collection, built up over time. Start small, experiment, and see what works for you.
Child sized aprons, chef hats & oven mitts are adorable, but not necessary unless you want them or your child is actually regularly taking food out of the oven/toaster oven, which I wouldn't recommend until they're fully stable when walking while carrying and have a couple years of practice under their belts. As for aprons, if they're not in the budget old clothes or playclothes are all you need to keep kids clean.
At Their Level
Either bring your child up to your work space with a Learning Tower or something similar, or bring the food prep down to a low bench or table. They'll be able to cut through food more easily, see what they're doing, and generally feel more confident when they're standing on a stable surface and (in the case of the learning tower) not teetering on a stool.
Cleanup
We make cleanup a built-in part of any messy activity. You can model this by simply mentioning "Oh look, there's some batter on the counter. I know how to wipe it up like this. Do you want to try?" and handing over a damp sponge. Toddlers love to help wash dishes, clean up spills, and sweep up messes. Just don't expect perfection, and plan to "take turns" or come back later when they're out of sight to finish up yourself. It can destroy their confidence and desire to keep cleaning on their own if we always swoop in and redo their work.
Have Fun!
Food prep should be a fun, relaxed activity for you and your child, as well as a way to reduce stress around daily chores with a toddler in the house. If it's becoming stressful there's no shame in taking a break to re-evaluate, cutting back, or even deciding it's not working for you right now. If you're ready to get started, you can find some delicious, child-friendly recipes here under the category food prep.
Comments