Here are a few Practical Life food preparation activities I recently put together for James. He loved each one! Again, anything involving food or eating usually receives two thumbs up from my little cutie. :) He must take after his mama!!
Table Setting
This activity was made successful thanks to the adorable placemat you see below...
This was handmade by Eva of Handmade Beginnings. I LOVE it! So bright, colorful and extremely well made. Visit Eva's Etsy store to buy one of your own!
Apple Slicing
I wasn't sure how well James would be able to work the slicer, but he put those little muscles to work and was determined to do it himself. And he did!
Buttering Bread
This activity works well with other condiments, too - jam, cream cheese, peanut butter. I made sure the pat of butter was soft enough for James to spread easily across the bread.
He took great care in making sure he covered every square inch of the bread :) and when he finished he ran to get another slice of bread for me too.
Linking up to Montessori Monday and The Preschool Corner - click the links to see what others are doing with their children.
Table Setting
This activity was made successful thanks to the adorable placemat you see below...
This was handmade by Eva of Handmade Beginnings. I LOVE it! So bright, colorful and extremely well made. Visit Eva's Etsy store to buy one of your own!Apple Slicing
I wasn't sure how well James would be able to work the slicer, but he put those little muscles to work and was determined to do it himself. And he did!
Buttering Bread
This activity works well with other condiments, too - jam, cream cheese, peanut butter. I made sure the pat of butter was soft enough for James to spread easily across the bread.
He took great care in making sure he covered every square inch of the bread :) and when he finished he ran to get another slice of bread for me too.Linking up to Montessori Monday and The Preschool Corner - click the links to see what others are doing with their children.
You always give good ideas to help children to do things by theirselves, that is the goal. Thank you very much for offering your help.
ReplyDeleteI love these activities! Another fun food activity is preparing omelettes in a bag in stead of a bowl, a fun squashy sensory experience :) Oh and jelly of course, whilst it's risky with the hot water it is such a wonderful lesson in patience (checking on it to see when it's finally set). And if you can find sugar and aspartame free jelly all the better (in my opinion)! And the place mat is incredible!!
ReplyDeleteWhat fun! My two love to help me bake. They love measuring all the ingredients and then getting to 'dump' them. That placemat is too cute. I don't have an apple slicer but how fun to be able to get your own apple ready and my oldest is probably totally ready to start spreading his own toppings on his bread. Great idea!
ReplyDeleteAll of your trays are so beautifully coordinated and inviting! I especially love your plates.
ReplyDeleteThe smile on James's face is precious.
Love it! Great job mom!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful settings and great snack time choices! I love your photos too:)
ReplyDeleteVery nice idea, it looks wonderful!
ReplyDeleteKaren
Aww cute, great ideas! Kids get so much enjoyment out of being able to do things by themselves eh! :D I'm going to try these out with my little one! Thanks so much for linking to me too!
ReplyDelete<3
Eva
oo love these activities! That placemat is super cool!
ReplyDeleteLove those ideas! I'm going to have to see if my mom can whip up a placemat for me ;o)
ReplyDeleteThese are wonderful. I am going to definitely have to set out a "setting the table" and "buttering bread" for my children.
ReplyDeleteThese are GREAT! I will do these in the near future :)
ReplyDeleteYou are a wonderful mama! You have given me a lot of inspiration with this blog post!
ReplyDeleteThanks,
Cathy @ The Attached Mama
Love your place mats! Selena loves to do all these things as well, except she doesn't have a fancy apple slicer. Great week!
ReplyDeleteWe use that apple slicer all the time. I really love that placemat..I think I should make that my next crafty project!
ReplyDeleteI was wondering where do you get the white trays, the ones with the circles on top and the rectangles underneath.
ReplyDeletewhat a great place mat! Thanks for sharing your ideas!!
ReplyDeleteHi dear friend! Lovely activities, as always. James has gotten so big. He's such a cutie. I was looking at yours followers: You almost have 400! That's amazing! You're a wonderful blogger. Congrats. {Here's a little secret, we have the same blog template, hehehe. Great minds think alike!}
ReplyDeleteOh that place mat is adorable.
ReplyDeleteI love how you set everything up for James. You make it so special and you can see the love that you put into everything you do for him. Beautiful.
Love that placemat! All your trays are set up so attractively.
ReplyDeleteI love the placemat and I would love to see my lil' monkey try to use an apple slicer to slice an apple. Gonna give it a try.
ReplyDeleteYou are so creative and artistic in the way you do your trays! Love these activities and the place mat too.
ReplyDeleteAwesome works for snack time. Love the placemats. So cool and fun for summer:)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing. hope that you will pop by my blog. I am doing a swap for light table items.
It's all so beautiful.
ReplyDeleteYou can tell he is enjoying it!
ReplyDeleteThanks for linking up to Montessori Monday, and thanks for the reminder to spend some more time on simple practical life stuff. Love those placemats, and I love how proud James looks in the photo with his apple slices!
ReplyDeleteEverything looks so picture-perfect - I can see why James love these food preparation activities. Anna enjoys cooking and setting the table, but eating what she cooked... not so much :)
ReplyDeleteLove the placemat! I love all the organization of your activities! Thanks for linking up!
ReplyDeleteI featured you on my Monday Shareday at Milk N' Honey: http://milknhoneylearnandgrow.blogspot.com/2010/07/monday-shareday-please-link-up-thanks.html. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteIt’s such a great idea to take baby steps to get your son involved in the kitchen! Pretty soon he’ll be able to make simple meals all by himself! Preparing meals together with your child is so important, since research shows kids who cook together are more likely to consider portions and learn important skills, such as following instructions, teamwork, math, and even fine motor skills. And kids who eat meals together with their family are less likely to be obsess and do better in school. That’s why I work with The Kids Cook Monday, a new program started by the Healthy Monday campaigns that encourages families to cook and eat meals together each week. To find out more, check out our website at http://www.healthymonday.org/the-kids-cook-monday/
ReplyDeleteWe’re looking for families to get involved by cooking meals together each week and sharing their experiences on their blogs. If you’re interested in participating, please email me at TheKidsCookMonday@gmail.com. Thanks!
Mayo
I love your table setting activity - and your apple slicing activity and your buttering bread activity! I featured your lovely table setting photos and activity at http://livingmontessorinow.com/2011/09/12/montessori-monday-table-setting/
ReplyDeleteI hope you're having a fabulous September with your beautiful family, Mari-Ann! I featured the photo of your apple-slicing activity at http://livingmontessorinow.com/2011/09/22/montessori-inspired-apple-unit/
ReplyDelete