Tips for Doing Cooking Projects with Students

Cooking projects are one of my favorite things to do with small groups of students. It’s a fun way to bond while practicing new skills and doing something a bit out of the ordinary. When I first started working with prekindergarten students, I assumed that most of the prep for these projects (chopping, measuring, mixing) needed to be done by the adults. Not true.

When covering for an infant teacher, I saw a small group of under 2 year olds preparing muffin batter in the classroom, which inspired me to adapt recipes for my slightly older students. As long as you take the time to prepare your project ahead of time and have the kitchen equipment at your school, kids will delight in putting together (and later consuming) their own snacks.

 I can get specific with recipes in another post, but here are some basic tips for organizing your own cooking project for young children.

1.  Assess what you are working with. This seems obvious, but checking what your school has in the way of baking sheets, muffin tins, large bowls and measuring cups, as well as kitchen basics like eggs, oil, salt and other spices, is vital. If you’re working with a toaster oven, make sure baking items can fit inside. Simple stuff, but these things need to be done the first time you prepare food with kids to eliminate nasty surprises later on in the process.
2. Premeasure all dry ingredients. This is a personal preference, and mostly specific for under-6’s, but it does save a lot of clean-up later. I like to put all the flour we will need in one (closable) plastic container, all the salt into another, along with baking powder, sugar, etc. Having closable containers makes it easy to transport ingredients, especially if you’re bringing them from home or across the school. More advanced junior chefs can easily do this part themselves.
3. Think about how many bowls and stirring utensils you will need. For baking projects this is often one large bowl for dry ingredients, another for wet. Perhaps you will want another clean bowl to store eggshells or one for scraps (if chopping produce).
4. Gather wet ingredients and measuring cup(s). I like to have students pour the wet ingredients themselves since the job can be spread amongst several students if you use a ¼ cup at a time, and it’s a lot of fun. You could pre-pour milk, water or oil into a small pitcher to make things easier, but I like to have students practice keeping a half-gallon carton steady.
5. Take turns doing small tasks like mixing. With groups of 5-10, I make sure everyone gets a chance to have a go at mixing the dry and wet ingredients, as well as pouring batter into tins or arranging food on the baking sheet, depending on what we are making. This gives each kid a chance to feel like they are contributing and stops them from feeling bored or left out. I also give myself a turn, giving the ingredients a good mix in case they haven’t been fully mixed yet.

 Additionally, make sure to preheat the oven if necessary, and let everything fully cool before serving. I always cut portions pretty small, as many students enjoy the process of cooking more than eating the final result. This saves additional servings for those that really are keen on the food they made.

Enjoy your cooking!