Engage Your Young Chefs and Build Academic Skills – With Recipes Based on Familiar Stories, Rhymes, and Fingerplays

Presenter: Judy Ross

Why teach cooking to children?

When we cook together we develop…

  • 21st century skills, such as: creativity, communication, teamwork, problem solving, and perseverance.
  • Self-esteem, confidence, and independence.
  • An appreciation of tools, and learn their proper use.
  • Reading, math, science, and social skills.
  • The ability to enjoy the process, as well as the finished product.
  • A lifelong skill. (And we have fun!)

When we cook together we integrate…

  • Reading and Literacy: Concepts of print, vocabulary, and other foundational reading skills. Cooking is also a great follow up to familiar stories, rhymes, and fingerplays. We encourage “What if…?” and “I wonder…?” questions, which lead to cooking explorations based on the author’s ideas.
  • Math Standards: Counting, measuring, sequencing, problem solving, and more.
  • Science Standards: Using your five senses, observing chemical reactions, determining cause and effect, and investigation/experimentation.
  • Social Skills: Working together, solving problems, taking turns, and more.

Helpful Resources:

  • Seinfeld, Jessica. DeceptivelyDelicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food. New York: HarperCollins, 2007.
  • Katzen, Mollie & Henderson, Ann. Pretend Soup and Other Real Recipes: A Cookbook for Preschoolers and Up. New York: Random House, 1994.

Read Alouds:

  • Christelow, Eileen. Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed
  • Willis-Crowley, Kate. Jack and Jill
  • Reasoner, Charles. Jack and Jill (board book)
  • Galdone, Paul. The Three Bears
  • Barton, Byron. The Three Bears (board book)

(All resources are available at amazon.com)

“Five Little Yummies Jumping on the Bread”

(“5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed”)

Savory Version:

Ingredients:

1 slice of white bread

5 Velveeta cheese cubes

5 smokie sausages (optional)

5 dill pickle slices

1 slice of bologna (thin sliced)

1 lettuce leaf

Mustard, ketchup, mayo

What to do:

  1. Set your slice of bread aside. This will be your “bed”.
  2. Shape 1 cheese cube around each of your 5 fingers. These will be your “yummies” (or monkeys).
  3. Say the fingerplay as your “yummies” jump on the bread. Each time a “yummy” falls off, place it to the side of the bread. Continue until all 5 of your “yummies” have fallen off the “bed”.
  4. Say the last line of the fingerplay. This is your cue to prepare the “bed” (spread some mayo on the bread to help everything stay in place). Then, place each “yummy” on the bread, put some ketchup and/or mustard “medicine” on each yummy’s head, give each one a dill pickle slice “pillow”, add a sausage “teddy bear” for each one to help them sleep, put a “blanket” over them(lettuce slice and/or a slice of bologna).Tuck your “yummies” in by folding the bread slice in half over the other ingredients.

*Variations: Use chicken nuggets or the smokie sausages (cut in half) for the “yummies”, and add a slice of cheese for the “blanket”.

“Five Little Yummies Jumping on the Bread”

(“5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed”)

Sweet Version:

Ingredients:

1 slice of banana bread

5 marshmallows, 5 chunks of banana, or 5 peanut butter balls (confectioners sugar mixed with peanut butter)

1 or 2 fruit slices

Nutella, peanut butter, or jelly (any flavor)

What to do:

  1. Set your slice of banana bread aside. This will be your “bed”.
  2. Shape 1 marshmallow(or banana chunk, or peanut butter ball) around each of your 5 fingers. These will be your “yummies”.
  3. Say the fingerplay as your “yummies” jump on the bread. Each time a “yummy” falls off, place it to the side of the bread. Continue until all 5 of your “yummies” have fallen off the “bed”.
  4. Say the last line of the fingerplay. This is your cue to prepare the “bed” (spread some Nutella, peanut butter, or jelly on the bread to help everything stay in place). Then, place each “yummy” on the bread, put some Nutella, peanut butter, or jelly “medicine” on each yummy’s head, and put the “blanket” over them (fruit slice) to tuck them in. This will now be an “open-faced sandwich” that you can eat and enjoy!

“Jack and Jill and the Edible Hill”

(“Jack and Jill Went up the Hill”)

Sweet Version #1:

Ingredients:

1 T. fruit flavored mini marshmallows

1tsp. vanilla instant pudding powder

1 tsp. light or whipped cream cheese

2 T. fruit cocktail packed in juice, or fresh fruit chunks of your choice

2 T. Cool Whip

1 vanilla sandwich cookie

2 gingerbread cookies, animal crackers, or honey teddy grahams

1 tsp. liquid (e.g., fruit cocktail juice, fruit juice, fruit flavored syrup, etc.)to put in a small, condiment-sized cup

What to do:

  1. Mix the first five ingredients in a cup or bowl to make a “fruit salad”.
  2. Crush the cookies in a plastic baggie. Add the crumbs/chunks to your fruit salad mixture. Adjust your mixture if needed by adding more/less of any ingredient. You’ll want it thick enough to be able to mound it into a “hill”.
  3. Transfer your mixture to a plate, and make a mound to form a “hill”.Place the cup of liquid at the top for Jack to get when he climbs up the hill.
  4. Choose your “Jack and Jill” characters (e.g., 2 gingerbread people, 2 animal crackers, or 2 teddy grahams).
  5. Say the fingerplay. Start characters at the bottom of the hill, and have them ascend until they reach the top. Have Jack tumble down the hill first, then Jill. Pour the cup of liquid down the “hill”. Eat and enjoy!

“Jack and Jill and the Edible Hill”

(“Jack and Jill Went up the Hill”)

Sweet Version #2:

Ingredients:

1 T. white mini marshmallows

1tsp. chocolate instant pudding powder

1 tsp. light or whipped cream cheese

2 T. chopped fresh fruit chunks of your choice

1 tsp. chocolate chips

2 T. Cool Whip

1 chocolate sandwich cookie

2 animal crackers, or chocolate teddy grahams

1 tsp. Hershey’s syrupto put in a small, condiment-sized cup

What to do:

  1. Mix the first six ingredients in a cup or bowl to make a “fruit salad”.
  2. Crush the cookies in a plastic baggie. Add the crumbs/chunks to your fruit salad mixture. Adjust your mixture if needed by adding more/less of any ingredient. You’ll want it thick enough to be able to mound it into a “hill”.
  3. Transfer your mixture to a plate, and make a mound to form a “hill”. Place the cup of syrup at the top for Jack to get when he climbs up the hill.
  4. Choose your “Jack and Jill” characters (e.g., 2 animal crackers, or 2 teddy grahams).
  5. Say the fingerplay. Start characters at the bottom of the hill, and have them ascend until they reach the top. Have Jack tumble down the hill first, then Jill. Pour the cup of syrup down the “hill”. Eat and enjoy!

“Jack and Jill and the Edible Hill”

(“Jack and Jill Went up the Hill”)

Savory Version:

Ingredients:

1 T. black olives, chopped

¼ c. refried beans

1 T. sour cream

1 tsp.mild, chopped green chilis

1 tsp. taco seasoning mix from a packet

2 T. shredded cheddar cheese or Mexican cheese blend

2 (or more, if Jack and Jill want to invite friends) tortilla chips or veggie sticks

1 T. salsato put in a small, condiment-sized cup

What to do:

  1. Mix the first six ingredients in a bowl.
  2. Adjust your mixture if needed by adding more/less of any ingredient. You’ll want it thick enough to be able to mound it into a “hill”.
  3. Transfer your mixture to a plate, and make a mound to form a “hill”. Place the cup of salsa at the top for Jack to get when he climbs up the hill.
  4. Choose your “Jack and Jill” characters (e.g., 2 tortilla chips or veggie sticks).
  5. Say the fingerplay. Start characters at the bottom of the hill, and have them ascend until they reach the top. Have Jack tumble down the hill first, then Jill. Pour the cup of salsa down the “hill”. Eat and enjoy!

“Three Bears in the Veggie Woods”

(Based on the fairy tale, Goldilocks and the Three Bears)

Ingredients:

A small wedge from a head of iceberg lettuce

½ carrot, chopped into “coins”

5 cherry tomatoes

3 broccoli florets

A few cucumber slices

1 slice of cheese

1 T. ranch dressing

3 teddy grahams

What to do:

  1. Chop the lettuce. Sprinkle it on your plate to show “grass”.
  2. Use cherry tomatoes, carrot coins, broccoli florets, cucumber slices, etc., as the plants, trees, picnic tables, playground balls, etc. Try using a slice ofcheese as the “picnic blanket” for your bears.
  3. Invite your 3 teddy bears to play in the forest playground.
  4. Sprinkle a little ranch dressing (snow?) on the “grass”.
  5. Eat and enjoy!