But how do you convince administration that you should be cooking in the classroom, where do you ever start, and what does it even look like? How does it all work?
If convincing administration that you should be cooking in your classroom is your biggest problem, consider it solved. Here is a minor list of skills students work on with every cooking lesson:
- social skills
- wait time / patience
- math (adding, doubling, time, measurement…)
- reading
- science (reactions when you mix ingredients, STEM!)
- following directions / sequencing a task
- communication
- life skills of using a kitchen / kitchen safety
- independence
- …and so much more!
The list goes on and on.
Think back to when you first learned to make a PBJ. That, at least for me, was an epic day… and it still is, considering it is one of the 5 things that I can cook and not mess up.
Anyway, the first time you made a PBJ it all by yourself, how excited were you?! How proud were you? How proud were your parents?!
Cooking is kind of one of those rights of passage that you just learn over time. Well now it’s time for our students to start cooking even earlier in life and you can be the one to make it happen! (read more below about how I get parents on board and excited too!)
So how do you plan for cooking in the classroom?
Like you plan for everything else, you will plan with a calendar. Choose one day of the week or one date each month that you will dedicate a lesson to cooking. It could be every Friday you cook in the morning (that’s what we do in my classroom), or you could do a quick cooking lesson the day after you finish a big math unit. It’s all up to you.
But how do you get parents on board with cooking in the classroom?
We see so many students with food allergies these days, that we need to be careful when planning for cooking.
One thing I do to reassure parents is send a permission form home each month, listing out all of the recipes and ingredients we will be cooking with that month. I do send the form home at least 1 week ahead of time, giving me a chance to make alternative snack preparations for students who have allergies.
On the days we cook, I also send home the recipes mats students completed in class. The no bake recipe card goes home with each child too, as well as a student survey that each child completes after trying the recipe… this gives parents information on new foods their child may like, as well as an activity they can do with their child at home. THIS builds buy in.
You probably think you don’t have time for cooking in the classroom, right? Between assessments, data collection, and everything else… cooking just cannot fit into your schedule.
Sorry to be the bearer of good news, friend, but it can.
Here is a quick snapshot into what cooking in the classroom looks like in my self-contained, special needs classroom:
- Thursday – we complete the visual recipe sequencing mat. This substitutes as our fine motor lesson for the day, as students need to cut and paste. It also helps build our communication skills.
- Friday Morning – we cook recipes in the morning from 9-930ish. We then finish our ELA lesson, go to recess and lunch. When we come back (around 11:15AM), we divide up servings for snack (which is later in the day) and save one snack serving for each student.
- Friday Afternoon – every Friday in the early afternoon we pass out servings of our recipe to teachers and staff in the building. We use our core boards and communication skills to ask teachers and staff if they would like a serving of what we’ve cooked. (This step may be omitted for larger class sizes, or students could take turns each week.)
Now that we’ve covered the logistics of the why and the how, let’s talk about the what.
What recipes can you make in your classroom throughout the year that you don’t need a stove or an oven for? Better yet, there can’t possibly be enough recipes out there that are easy enough for elementary students to cook. I’m kidding…
There are so many recipes out there for you to use in your classroom, it’s kind of crazy. Some are definitely more simple than others and there might be some that you just can’t touch (insert peanut allergy here).
I’m not saying finding the right recipes for your students will be easy, but I’ve definitely made it easier with this guy and this guy.
With my Fun Food Friday pack, I’ve planned it all out for you, Friday by Friday for the entire school year. Not only do you get 39 total recipes and the cooking calendar, you get the whole enchilada (I kid again, those aren’t on the classroom menu). You get a step-by-step activity mat for every single recipe, the calendar includes ingredients on it, and there’s a boy and girl version of the allergy permission slip for you to send home at the beginning of each month.
Grab a FREE recipe from the FFF pack here.
With the No Bake Visual Recipes Bundle, you get 5 recipes for each month of the year, totaling 60 no bake visual recipes. The best part is that this unit uses REAL PICTURES of each step of the recipe.
Each month’s recipes come with:
• Recipe card (that lists kitchen tools and ingredients needed) and recipe survey
• Visual recipe and sequencing mat
• Adapted visual recipe workpages / file folder
• 4” sequencing cards
• Comprehension questions
Grab two FREE recipes from the No Bake Visual Recipes Bundle here.
Try both out for free to see how engaging and beneficial cooking in the classroom is. I promise you, your classroom will be forever changed.
KEEP READING: The only kitchen supplies you need for cooking in the classroom. Find out what they are here.
What do you think about cooking in the classroom? What questions do you still have?
Had to laugh…I am actually a pretty good cook, but failed at Kraft mac and cheese when my nephew wanted it years ago! I rinsed the noodles after cooking them, since you do that to stop the cooking and get rid of the starch when using them in other dishes…he was mortified!
I am intrigued by your no stove/no oven ideas, since our school's kitchen is off limits. Plus, I am guessing a lot of parents these days don't do much actual cooking for the kids to help with. (Again, going with my sister's family who knows every chain's menu by heart…)
Hey Suzy! I'm so happy to hear that you are cooking in your classroom!
Most of the ingredients are purchased with my own money, but a lot of parents will donate plates, cups, plasticware, and ingredients monthly.
Many of the no bake recipes use the same ingredients, like peanuts, M&Ms, cereals… so I will purchase items like this in bulk to get the most for my money.
Stephanie
I teach a life skills class as well, and we actually do cook on Friday. I am intrigued, however, by your no-bake recipes. At present, we do use both the stove/oven unit and the microwave.
You make no mention of how you acquire your ingredients. At my school, I do not have a pantry budget, and rely on my own bank account and parent donations. Do you have a suggestion for buying ingredients, such as in bulk, or do you have school stipend for this activity?
I do purchase many of the ingredients myself, but I am fortunate enough to have parents that are happy to donate supplies to the classroom for Fun Food Friday. I will send home the monthly recipe list with the list of ingredients, which gives parents an idea of supplies we will need for the month.
Hi Stephanie!
I'm working on a grant app sponsored by our school's PTO and wondered if you could give a rough budget estimate for each week/month of Fun Food Friday for one class. I thought you included that info somewhere, but can't find it now!
Thanks!
Donna
Hey Donna, I've never divulged a budget for FFF because I honestly don't know the total cost per school year. It all depends on what supplies you need. Strictly for food, your budget is going to be anywhere from $30-50 a month (for a small class). But if you are going to be in need of paper plates, paper bowls, and plasticware, you'll need to budget money for that. Another thing to think about is also kitchen tools and equipment. Do you have measuring cups, mixing bowls, utensils, and other supplies? If you don't, you'll need to budget those supplies in for your grant. My suggestion is to budget about $50 per month for food, and if you're in need of other supplies, head to Wal*Mart and make a list of supplies you are in need of with the prices. 🙂 Best of luck to you with your grant!
can you explain how you use the sequencing mat, with the numbers. do you cut the numbers out and Velcro them to each pic? thanks. Sonja [email protected]
Hey Sonja! So the sequencing mat that has the numbers on it is used as the base for students to glue on the steps of the recipe. So you get a recipe mat and a sequencing mat for each recipe. I have my students cut out the pictures from the recipe mat, and together we glue them on to the sequencing mat. This helps practice our fine motor skills, our listening skills, and our ordinal numbers. 🙂 I hope this helps and answers the question you asked! – Mrs. D
I used to love cooking in the classroom, but when we lost class size reduction and classes swelled to 34, I lost my momentum. I have been searching for a new Fun Friday activity this year, and you have inspired me to try cooking again with my little guys. I would imagine that with a small number of students in your class, that it is easy to have them all participate in the cooking project. I appears that you are making one large recipe for all, as opposed to individual servings made by each child.
Do you have suggestions for incorporating this into a classroom of 24 children. Would you pick helpers to come assist??
Hey Mrs. S! Yes, when we cook, we are making large recipes, not individual amounts of each recipe. My suggestion for a class of 24 is possibly having a center rotation for Fun Food Friday where students would rotate in to making a recipe. Another suggestion is to find another class to participate with. One of the gifted classes or the Pre-K class often participates in Fun Food Friday with us. It's more students, but also more hands to help 🙂 I hope this helps! I'm so excited you're going to start cooking again!
Hi Stephanie,
Would you say it is still possible to complete these activities without a sink in the classroom? I’m interested in doing this with my MD room but to wash the dishes either my students and myself or my assistants would need to leave the room — just curious if you’d still say its worth it to give a try?
Absolutely worth a try. As long as you have water beforehand (for recipes that call for water) you should be find during the lesson. As long as you have a place to wash the dishes after, you should be good to go!
Great post! If this was a larger part in the math curriculums in our schools, then our students would be much more engaged! Basic life skills are not being taught, even though they are still needed.