Your Kitchen Is A Classroom



It’s 5:00 PM and your kids are underfoot but you have to get dinner ready.  Everyone wants your attention, and of course even though we have playrooms, and family rooms etc.  they want to be where you are right?    What do you do?
Look to your kitchen as a classroom for your child.  Your drawers and cupboards are filled with exciting activities for your little ones to explore.   Many of our classroom Practical Life activities are fashioned from kitchen supplies.  These activities are filled with hidden skills such as developing concentration skills, increasing attention span, refining fine motor control, not to mention all the math that can happen in the kitchen!
Here are a few suggestions to get the ball rolling:

(2-3 year old)
Materials:
Cupcake tin
Large bowl
Dried pasta

1.            Place pasta in the large bowl.
2.            Using a large grasping motion show your child how to transfer the pasta from the bowl to one of the                       cupcake tins. ( point out the noise it makes to increase their interest)
3.            Once transferred demonstrate how to return it back to the bowl.

(3-4 year old)
Materials:
Small funnel
2 cups
1 pitcher
1 sponge

1.           Pour water into the pitcher.  (add some food coloring to make it more interesting)
2.           Demonstrate how to place the funnel in to the cup and pour half of the liquid in
3.         Repeat with the other cup.
4.           Pour water back into the pitcher.
5.         Use the sponge to wipe up any spills.

(4-5 year old) 
Fruits and Veggies
Vegetable Brush
Basin or large bowl
Towel

1.         Put water in the basin
2.         Place a piece of fruit or vegetable in the basin with the vegetable brush. 
3.         Demonstrate how to scrub the fruit/vegetable with the brush.
4.         Place on towel to dry.

These are just a small taste of what could be done in the kitchen to occupy your child while you cook.  Children love to do “meaningful work”.  Using materials that they see you use helps to create this sense of purpose.   When thinking of activities, think about how it sounds, looks and feels to a child.  This will help keep the interest of your child and hopefully help you to finish dinner!

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