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Land O' Cotton
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| Posted: Aug 12 2007 at 8:22pm | IP Logged
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I'm in the process of setting up an area in my kitchen for practical living activities. I'd really love to hear any ideas ya'll have for materials, books, cookbooks, etc. to make it a fun experience. I have things like mini muffin tins, a few wooden spoons-- things like that. I'd like to either make or buy an apron, a set of small pots and pans, recipe cards for easy-to-make snacks, foods, etc.
What's in your kitchen that really gets a lot of attention? Have any neat ideas?
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Vicki
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earthmaven
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| Posted: Aug 12 2007 at 10:30pm | IP Logged
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When we bake, my girls love to practice leveling off the flour with the straight edge of a knife. Using funnels is always a hit, and practicing with chopsticks keeps them at it for ages. I got the child-size ones here
Using a potato masher is loads of fun, too (as is eating the banana bread we use it for!). The girls also enjoy using the choppers I got for them from Michael Olaf (can't seem to pull up their on-line catalogue at present, but they're in the younger children's one). I also bought a Swiss grater from them that the girls adore using--it's the kind with a handle that rotates--safer for little fingers than the box grater I use.
Hope those ideas are of some help.
Tracy
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Eleanor
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| Posted: Aug 12 2007 at 10:47pm | IP Logged
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Tongs are always popular... both the V-shaped kind, and the scissor kind. So are specialized cutters of many different types:
- pizza cutters (as long as the blade isn't too sharp)
- egg slicers
- apple slicers
- banana slicers (sounds silly, but good for the very youngest children)
- the crinkle-cutter thingy... I don't know the name, but it's sold in a lot of Montessori catalogs -- maybe it's what Tracy is talking about?
When I was young, I didn't get to help much with the everyday cooking, but my mother would give me the dough scraps when she was making pastry. I had a set of tiny baking tins, a rolling pin, and a few cookie cutters. It was great fun cutting shapes, sandwiching them together with jam, and putting them in to bake. As I got older, I made little tarts with various fillings, or pies with a lattice top. 
I'm going to have to get around to making pastry more often, so my children don't miss out on that experience! It was so much more enjoyable than Play-Doh.
Oh, and I also had a couple of Ladybird children's cookbooks, which were gifts from my English granny. I got the first one, "Learnabout Cooking," when I turned 4. It had more practical recipes than some of the children's cookbooks I've seen around these days, which tend to be a bit novelty-ish and use a lot of prepared foods. My favorites from this book were scrambled eggs (cooked on a low heat, with a fair bit of butter and milk), coconut pyramids (a sort of macaroon), and flapjacks (not like US pancakes; these are made by heating syrup, butter, and oats, then pressing the mixture into a tin). Yum yum.
There are several copies of this book available very cheaply on eBay UK. Shipping would likely cost more than the book itself, but I can't imagine it would be too much, since it's not big or heavy. It might be worth a look, especially if your children are interested in learning about English culture. (I'm not generally into unit studies, but I might be tempted to make an exception for Paddington Bear and something involving marmalade.  )
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earthmaven
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| Posted: Aug 12 2007 at 11:18pm | IP Logged
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Eleanor wrote:
the crinkle-cutter thingy... I don't know the name, but it's sold in a lot of Montessori catalogs -- maybe it's what Tracy is talking about?
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Yes, the crinkle-cutter thingy...that's what I have!
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: Aug 12 2007 at 11:36pm | IP Logged
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My dd likes to use her little cutting board and ulu knife from Alaska for cutting up fresh herbs for me to use at dinner.
A week or so ago I taught her how to make her own PBJ sandwich and she is SO proud to do it herself.
At the conference I just picked up this great Usborne set "30 Easy Things to Cook and Eat" recipe cards. They are really cute. Too difficult for dd to do alone (involve cooking), but my plan is for dd and ds to do them together.
Cookie cutters get used a lot. Egg slicer. Juicer.
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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JoJo
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| Posted: Aug 13 2007 at 1:21am | IP Logged
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Actually, yesterday we had a shopping trip to IKEA (the Swedish furniture store), and picked up some great items for the kitchen:
*Apple Slicer and Corer - this one has two handles for children to press on - it cores and cuts the apple into eight wedges. I have been told my dd's Montessori teacher that the IKEA ones are the best ones - and I'll agree - I bought a different brand from a reputable homewares store, and it broke very quickly. Not strong enough.
*Flour Sifter - it's great size for kids and the mechanism is much smoother / lighter to use - we've tried two others already, and both were too hard to use. Again, the IKEA one seems a winner.
*Grater set- this set has two different graters and a bowl to go underneath to catch all the grating, plus lids to go on the bowl in case you want to save some for later.
My kids also love to peel their hard boiled eggs and use an egg slicer (they're 3 & 6 and they always want to do it for the 13yo sister as well ).
My kids also do peeling with a peeler(cucumbers, carrots and sometimes apples), peeling mandarines; slicing fruit and vegies - almost daily; spreading bread & toast; help with baking (mixing, sifting, stirring etc); breaking eggs (I tap the egg with a knife and even the 3yo can gently prize it open and release the egg); using tongs to serve themselves - there are lots of possibilities.
The equipment does not have to be necessarily small, but I think it does have to be reasonably quality and not too bulky / heavy for their little hands. Apart from the few items mentioned above, we use adult size materials - bowls, trays, moulds, pans etc.
Hope this is helpful.
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Land O' Cotton
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| Posted: Aug 13 2007 at 7:24am | IP Logged
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Eleanor wrote:
When I was young, I didn't get to help much with the everyday cooking, but my mother would give me the dough scraps when she was making pastry.
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I remember this too! Mom would let me play with some of the dough, then she'd make these little sweets she called "dib-e-deaux". I couldn't wait to taste those little bits of dough baked with cinnamon and sugar! Yum! I'm guilty of not making dough and buying the pre-made crusts. I know it's not rocket science, but I have the hardest time making pie crust dough!
Thanks so much for all the great ideas! This is such a great help to get me started in the right direction for our kitchen center.
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Vicki
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acystay
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I found a small cheese grader at Target. Perfect for their size. You know the kind that stand up? It is like that only small and 2 sided instead of 4. Then they had a veggie peeler that you put on your finger and slide across what you need to peel. I also got some small tongs for them to pick things up with. Another idea on chopsticks if you can find it is chopstick trainers. They are plastic holders that keep the chopsticks in place. My daughter can actually eat some noddles w/o doing this b/c she's used/played with chopsticks for years (she's 5 1/2). I'm planing on doing embrodiered places mats to practice place setting as well this year. My kids love to cook. They put ingredients in things, mix, make dough, cut the herbs we need in our little garden, and come up with their own recipes. LIke the other day my son wanted mint and pepporoni pizza. My dh made it with him and he actually ate and liked it! Too funny ;)
Target (if it's not gone) had a an apron set too that has a mit, pot holder, chef hat, and apron that velcros on clearance. I got one for DS2 b/c ds1 has the same set and they fight over it sometimes. I love it b/c he can put it on himself. I have to help dd with hers.
Also, I got from pampered chef the avocado knife (don't know if they still have it). I got b/c it looks like a big person knife. I have them chop bananas and things that are easy with this knife. And yes, they do make their own gaucomole!
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4Real Forums : Nurturing the Years of Wonder
Topic: Wanted:Practical living ideas for kitchen
