This was one of James' favorite activities this month and he ate many carrots as a result. :)
I'm sorry I don't have any "action shots" of James during this process, but since he was working with cutting tools I needed to have both eyes on him. Anyway, to do this table work, James unrolled the green mat (held closed with a napkin ring) and arranged the materials on top of it. Next he brought the carrots to the kitchen where he rinsed and dried them off. Returning to the classroom, he carefully used the orange handled peeler (I found this locally) to remove the outer skin of the carrot. This proved to be a bit tricky because it was hard for him to get a good grip on the carrot. However, after a short time, the carrot was peeled and he placed it on little cutting board where he used the maroon handled cutter to chop off the ends. The peels were placed into the brown paper bag and the little towel was used to clean up any juices.
As I mentioned, James really enjoyed doing this and I actually ended up running out of carrots at one point (even though we had purchased a bag of 12 from a local farmer).
Food preparation activities are always a hit in our classroom - James loves pretty much anything that has to do with food :) and I enjoy them because they're about as practical life as you can get! Also, I love the idea of teaching my son how to cook... he's going to make some girl very happy later in life! :D
Here are a few more food preparation activities we've done in the past:
Our Snack Set Up
Table Setting, Buttering Bread, & Apple Slicing
Egg Peeling & Slicing
Cracking a Coconut (page down)
Making Meatballs
Homemade Butter
Squeezing Oranges/Frozen Orange Cups
Watermelon Balling
Cherry Pitting
Links: Info Montessori has this very detailed step by step post on how to prepare an apple. Montessori Services has tons of child size food preparation materials and kits - this is where I purchased several of the items shown in the first photo.
I'm sorry I don't have any "action shots" of James during this process, but since he was working with cutting tools I needed to have both eyes on him. Anyway, to do this table work, James unrolled the green mat (held closed with a napkin ring) and arranged the materials on top of it. Next he brought the carrots to the kitchen where he rinsed and dried them off. Returning to the classroom, he carefully used the orange handled peeler (I found this locally) to remove the outer skin of the carrot. This proved to be a bit tricky because it was hard for him to get a good grip on the carrot. However, after a short time, the carrot was peeled and he placed it on little cutting board where he used the maroon handled cutter to chop off the ends. The peels were placed into the brown paper bag and the little towel was used to clean up any juices.As I mentioned, James really enjoyed doing this and I actually ended up running out of carrots at one point (even though we had purchased a bag of 12 from a local farmer).
Food preparation activities are always a hit in our classroom - James loves pretty much anything that has to do with food :) and I enjoy them because they're about as practical life as you can get! Also, I love the idea of teaching my son how to cook... he's going to make some girl very happy later in life! :D
Here are a few more food preparation activities we've done in the past:
Our Snack Set Up
Table Setting, Buttering Bread, & Apple Slicing
Egg Peeling & Slicing
Cracking a Coconut (page down)
Making Meatballs
Homemade Butter
Squeezing Oranges/Frozen Orange Cups
Watermelon Balling
Cherry Pitting
Links: Info Montessori has this very detailed step by step post on how to prepare an apple. Montessori Services has tons of child size food preparation materials and kits - this is where I purchased several of the items shown in the first photo.
~Thank you for your comments!~
7 comments:
All of your activies sound wonderful!
It looks so cute all set up on the tray ~ it even looks schoolish, but so practical. =)
Food preparation is still a favorite in our house. Did you guys grow the carrots too? They have a natural look to them :)
Bunny never really liked carrots, but I told her the other day that she could peel them and eat them whenever she wanted. A day later I saw her open the fridge, get out a carrot, stand on a stool to peel it into the sink. Then she got a plate and her plastic knives, cut off the top and set it at the table. Finally she got out a small bowl,poured a small amount of ranch dressing in it, and sat down to eat the whole carrot! She has never eated a whole carrot! Horray for independence in the kitchen! And for healthy food! :)
We are just starting to get into food preparation at our house. J has his own cupboard in the kitchen as well as shelf in the fridge (inspired by yours:) ) and is now able to make his own cereal. He's not quite ready for peeling though although I'm filing this away for later.
I really like the cutting tool.
Great post! Thanks for new ideas :-)
Hi Mari-Ann! I published an excerpt from John Bowman's Montessori at Home eBook at Living Montessori Now today. It featured some of your awesome food-preparation photos: http://livingmontessorinow.com/2013/09/30/montessori-monday-cutting-with-a-knife-from-montessori-at-home/
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