Cooking -- A Laboratory for Learning
Laura J. Colker, Ed. D., L. J. Colker & Associates, Early Childhood Specialist, Washington, DC
What could be a more natural demonstration of sensory learning for children than cooking? Cooking primes all the senses. Children use sight to measure a full cup of milk when making pudding. They listen to the sound of bursting kernels to determine when popcorn is ready to eat. Kneading bread dough with their hands lets them feel how flour and water become elastic when combined. The aroma of plantain being fried alerts their noses and stomachs to the fact that the food is almost ready to eat. And, ah, the taste of a fruit salad they've prepared tastes ever so much better than a store-bought snack.
Head Start staff have many opportunities to incorporate cooking into the daily program. For example, children tend to relish snacks that they themselves have prepared or grown in a garden. As they use their senses to describe what they have cooked, they learn firsthand about nutrition and healthy foods.
As children use their senses, they develop in all areas. Following picture recipe cards teaches cognitive skills such as measurement, volume, equivalency, cause and effect, and directionality. Melting cheese is science in action. Peeling carrots and hulling strawberries develop hand-eye coordination. Making humus teaches children about nutrition and cultural preference. When children bake zucchini muffins for their morning snacks, they are seeing a task through to completion and can take pride in their accomplishment.
Many programs also routinely do special cooking projects with children, such as making bread or specific holiday treats. Recipes that do not require electrica1 equipment (such as making peanut butter) can be done with groups of three or four children in any area of the classroom at any time of the year. Group projects, such as making solar tea ( using sunshine to brew the tea) or growing alfalfa sprouts, lend themselves well to circle time activities. Through reflection and open-ended questioning, staff can readily make cooking a sensory learning experience.
Cooking is also an excellent activity for children to do with parents, both at Head Start and at home. Not only does it enhance the parent-child bond, but it adds to the understanding of the types of food that are prepared at home, thereby increasing awareness of ethnicity and tradition.
Cooking is such a valuable learning activity that staff should consider making it a regular part of the daily routine. A cooking area that children can use independently is and easy way to provide sensory learning experiences. If space is at a premium, a cooking area can be set up in the science area. Here, the children can taste different foods, prepare snacks on their own, or make a recipe-for-one. In a tasting center, children can use their senses to compare and contrast spaghetti and spaghetti squash, for example. They can combine grains, fruits, and nuts to make trail mix for a snack and eat it when they feel hungry. Children can even select recipe cards to make dishes of their own choosing, such as salad or yogurt dip.
Cooking is sensory learning in action. It is also fun for children and staff alike.
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