Young children are fascinated by almost everything that goes into the cooking process. Mixing, pouring, smelling, tasting and creating something new every time – how can they not be excited to explore?
To pique the interests of the little ones, teachers often include preschool cooking activities in the curriculum. We, at Whistle Woods Schoolhouse, let children have a good time kneading bread, making dumplings to fruit salad, and much more. The more they cook and enjoy the process, the more confident they become. It improves their communication skills and creativity, also giving them a lot of fun in the process.
Unsurprisingly, cooking has become an important part of holistic education. At a preschool with low teacher-student ratio Singapore, children receive the guidance and attention they need to participate confidently in hands-on activities like cooking. Give children a thoughtfully planned cooking session, and you will love the way they get curious, engaged and eager to participate. Here are some effective tips on how a Singaporean preschool cookery session can be made more exciting.
- Let Children Participate in Every Step
Children love to feel involved.
Let the children jump into the cooking process from the word ‘go.’ The little ones love to peel and chop veggies, prepare spice mixes, sprinkle herbs or garnish their dishes to make food look more exciting. At Whistle Woods Schoolhouse, they can even experience milling the flour with a hand cranked flour mill, and truly understanding how flour is even made in the first place.
Children feel proud at being given the smallest responsibility. When they include themselves in the entire process from the beginning to the end – their excitement level goes up! Children can learn something new from every little task.
- Choose Colourful and Familiar Ingredients
Bright colours attract young minds! Ensure that the cooking prep where children are involved is a spread of beautiful colours.
Give the little ones red strawberries, orange carrots, red and yellow bell peppers, red cabbage or green broccoli and watch how the mix of bright colours elevates their engagement level.
When there are more colours added to the preparation table, the cooking experience becomes a visual feast even before they taste it.
- Turn Cooking into a Story
When cooking is more like exploring new things, every recipe becomes new before it is being tried!
A simple sandwich can look tempting with some perfect add-ons. A fruit salad can be prepared like a rainbow. When children try their hands at cooking, imagination runs wild and becomes sky-high!
With stories in the background relayed by teachers, their imagination can get a further boost. It can keep them engaged from start to end, making the learning experience much more memorable – all the way.
- Encourage Teamwork During Every Activity
It is never about individual competition. A good preschool cooking class Singapore is much more.
When children wait for their turn, pass utensils carefully, share ingredients and help each other throughout the sessions, they can learn a lot.
Now preparing a snack or cooking a meal involves lots of activities. A child might be given the responsibility to cut vegetables and another might be asked to wash them. So from helping each other to waiting for turns – a cooking session can be such a great learning experience!
Children soak in a lot via these meaningful interactions like assessing the value of teamwork, patience, respecting opinions and much more. Such social lessons stay with them for years.
- Introduce Simple Learning Along the Way
Cooking can be an excuse. Introducing educational concepts may be the actual goal.
There is so much to learn for young minds. At a nature-based preschool in Singapore, children discover concepts naturally through hands-on experiences. When they count spoonfuls or compare quantities, they learn mathematics. When they identify colours, it enhances their cognition. When they observe changes in ingredients mixed together, they learn chemistry.
Without even realising that they are learning, children get to know about measurements, explore the cause-and-effect, ratio of ingredients – just to name a few. Therein begins the true magic of hands-on preschool education.
- Celebrate Every Finished Dish
When they complete something successfully, young children feel a lot of pride in themselves.
They understand that every effort deserves appreciation, whether preparing fruit skewers, sandwiches or pizza. They know how to wait and admire their creations before everyone eats together.
With positive encouragement, they can feel more confident in what they can do. It can inspire them to take part even more enthusiastically during future Singapore preschool activities.
When children feel safe during cooking sessions, they can feel more relaxed. They can retain their sense of adventure and be willing to experiment with various ingredients. Learning and enjoyment happen naturally in a secure environment.
At Whistle Woods Schoolhouse, children are encouraged to cook and bake often. As a Montessori preschool in Singapore, we make exciting cookery sessions a joyful and memorable part of learning, building children’s confidence at every step. We believe children learn with happy hands and curious minds. Visit our preschool and see how we do that, making every lesson an adventure worth remembering.