Seasonal creative cooking

Children learn best when they experience the world through all their senses...taste, smell, touch, sight and hearing. Preparing, cooking and eating food certainly involves all the senses.
Here are some of the amazing learning experiences children can engage in when doing cooking related activities:

• Exploring cooking utensils...banging, nesting, sorting and putting away
• Exploring cooking utensils with water...cups, beaters, spoons and funnels
• Pouring dry ingredients such as sugar, rice, dried beans
• Pouring wet ingredients including water, milk and juice
• Tasting fresh fruit and vegetables
• Comparing tastes, textures and colours of fresh fruit and vegetables
• Dipping raw fruit and vegetables into dips and sauces
• Scrubbing vegetables with a brush
• Breaking and tearing lettuce, snapping beans and shelling peas
• Stirring and mixing wet and dry ingredients
• Measuring wet and dry ingredients
• Arranging toppings on pizzas, biscuits, crackers sandwiches
• Spreading toppings on crackers and bread/toast
• Shaking milk shakes
• Rolling with both hands to make dough for cookies
• Juicing using a hand juicer
• Peeling apples and shells from boiled eggs
• Cutting safely with a knife
• Beating with a folk or whisk
• Grinding with a hand grinder
• Kneading bread dough

Am looking forward to finding some lovely concoctions to utilize all these skills.

This is an intergenerational project! My husband collected blackberries with his mum of 91 and her friend. I made fresh blackberry muffins and Honey, my grand daughter ate them!
Ingredients for 15 muffins
240ml milk, 1 egg, 3 tablespoons of melted butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda, 1/2 teaspoon mixed spice, 250g plain flour, 80g oats, 225g dark brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 200g fresh blackberries.
1. Pre-heat oven 200 c  / Gas 6
2. Whisk the milk,, egg, butter and vanilla extract together in a bowl.
3. Mix flour, oats, brown sugar, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, mixed spice and salt in bowl.
Make a well in middle and add egg mixture. Stir to combine and gently fold in blackberries. Divide into paper cases and bake for about 20 minutes. Cool and store in an airtight container if you have any left after the kids snaffle them!