Today, you can find my post over at A Mom With A Lesson Plan as we swap posts for a day! There you can find this easy recipe for Fannie Farmer’s Homemade Graham Crackers:
I just recently started homeschooling our 4 year old daughter and was hooked when I found Jillian’s website. She has awesome lesson plans and crafts for the little ones and I can always find something I enjoy there. So, when she offered to swap posts with me for today, it was a no brainer. Today, she is “cooking” up some light hearted fun outside of the kitchen for us!
I am so excited to be here at Mangoes and Chutney! Miranda is such a talented cook/blogger. Her recipes are filling my tummy as well as my recipe book. I am not a chef, but I do love to cook as long as I have a great recipe to follow. Which is why Mangoes and Chutney is #1 on my google homepage. Her
Mexican Lasagna made it right onto our weekly menu (although mine never looks quite so pretty!)
Instead of stepping into the kitchen for a fun guest post, I decided to take it outside. Little M and I have been exploring mud over the last month and a Mud Pie Kitchen was inevitable. We had a blast…and have been cooking up some goodies all week. what you need: bucket of dirt ~ bucket of water ~ old food containers ~ measuring cups ~ spoons ~ plates ~ bowls ~ pans ~ flowers and leaf clippings
I started out by clearing our dirt area. I wanted to stock it with cooking items only (sorry Big M, we have to move the cars for a bit)! We clipped flowers from the garden and gathered a few pine cones. We tried to find flowers with a variety of textures and colors.
I wanted to make sure that Little M wasn’t standing in mud… can you believe I was trying to keep her clean? We’ve been doing so much wild mud play that I really wanted to focus her energy on the pretend play aspects of the Mud Pie Kitchen. So I filled one bucket with dirt and one bucket with water, instead of making mud on the ground she made it in containers. It worked really well.
I’ve been saving food containers for a while and they added so much to the experience. We used whipping cream, water bottles, and old spice jars. What fun props would you add?
Little M talked while she cooked and I had the distinct impression that I have a foodie on my hands. I heard “And you can do this part at home” more than once. Hmmm wonder where she’s heard that?!?
We’ve used funnels before but this time she was so focused, I think it may have been the moment she really understood the purpose of using one.
She added a pinch of this and bit of that. We had Mud Flower Soup, Mud Birthday Cake, and Mud Apple Pie. My favorite was the Mud Quesadilla (did I mention I’m a sucker for Mexican food?)
In the end Little M’s kitchen didn’t look much different than mine at the end of a cook fest… we got to use the hose to clean up her mess though!
Questions (to ask your kids): “What ingredients are you using?” “Do you have a menu? What items do you offer?” “Can you tell me how to cook this dish?”
Tips (to maximize learning): 1. When saving props try to use items that you cook with. These will be familiar and make it easier for your little one to mimic their favorite chef! 2. When I save spice containers I rinse them out…but not try to loose the scent. That way their play cooking keeps some of the realistic qualities.
In the Spotlight: Jillian
I am a stay at home mom who loves to learn…and teach. I started amomwithalessonplan.com to share some of the ideas that I really enjoy with my kids. I want Moms (and Dads) to know that adding a little learning to playtime is fun and easy. Follow Jillian on Facebook and Twitter!
