This was our 2nd session of this series of cooking programs targeted at the Preschool level. This was kind of an ambitious recipe to do on just our second run, but I think it went well with all the extra planning we did plus the alterations we put in place. Let’s dive into what we did!
Description: Read about your food and eat it, too! We’ll read a book, sing some songs, and make a delicious new recipe each month! Ages 3-6.
Details: This is a 1.5hr program for kids 3-6 years old with their caregiver. We set out to have two main portions of the program. 1) the cooking/instructions/hands-on component. 2) a short storytime to reinforce the foods and concepts we did during cooking, which also allows us to finish up cooking or baking as they’re getting wiggles out during the storytime.
Budget: The budget for each session is up to $100, a bit higher than I’d do for one session, but the cost of food was the main portion. We usually only end up spending about $60.
Welcome & Safety: We started our program as we always do with our kitchen programs. We talk about how the kitchen has some tools in it that need a healthy dose of respect and we all need to use safe bodies while in the kitchen. We reiterate that our grownups are expected to be actively engaged and help their child wherever they can. Another small part of safety is making sure we’re washing our hands before handling the food.
Setting it up: Once we had our hands washed, we were ready to jump in and make Veggie (Stone) Soup! Stone Soup is one of my favorite folktales. I love telling it during storytime and getting out our play veggies and pot to “make” the soup as I tell the story. So, my coworker, C, and I thought this would be a perfect theme for our Preschool Cooks & Books program where we could actually make the real soup! We started the program by telling the story of Stone Soup and teaching the kids the “refrain” for the story – “Bring what you’ve got and put it in the pot! Stir it, stir it, stir it a lot!” We wanted to teach this so that after we were finished with the veggies, we could have the kids come up to add their veggies as we all recited the phrase together.
Speaking of veggies…This was one of the complications we needed to address as we were planning the program. Some veggies are easy to chop, even with the kid-safe knives we purchased for the program series. However, we were worried that carrots and potatoes would prove difficult for preschoolers. We thought about it a lot and determined that parboiling them for a short time before the program would make them soft enough for preschoolers to cut fairly easily.
Instructions: Even with some of the veggies being tenderized, we emphasized that we were going to use the helper technique. This means that the child holds the knife and the grownup wraps their hands over the child’s hands – helping to guide their movements. We chopped up carrots, potatoes, zucchini, bell peppers, and celery. C and I had chopped up the onion and garlic before the program began so that it would be easier. While the kids chopped their veggies, I cooked the onions and garlic in some olive oil. We then invited the kids to bring up their veggies to the pot as we said the rhyme. After we had all the veggies in, we invited the kids one at a time to measure and add the spices, canned tomatoes, and broth.
Storytime: This is where we took a break for the kids to go to a storytime based on Soup! While C took them to the storytime room, I continued to let the soup simmer until all the veggies were tender. I also warmed up a loaf of bread in the oven so that everyone could have a piece with their soup.
Finishing Up: When the kids came back in, I had bowls of their soup and bread ready for them to taste! Only one kid didn’t seem to like it, but was happily munching on the bread. Everyone else took home a good helping of soup to have for later as well!
If you want the recipe we used, you can find it below!
Librarian Ginny 