This was our 5th session and my favorite we’ve done so far! I’m not gonna lie, I stressed about this one a lot – double guessed if the preschoolers would be able to do everything we asked them to do with the recipe, wondered if we could get the cabbage into small enough pieces, if they’d have the dexterity to fold the dumplings, and so much more. Everything turned out great! I feel more and more that when it comes to cooking, preschoolers are capable of so much more than we give them credit for.
So let’s dive in!
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.
With some of the basics and goals out of the way, here’s what we did for this session:
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! The first thing that we needed to do was cut the cabbage into small pieces and render the extra water out of it. So C and I explained how salt is a good way to release some of the juices. We placed a bowl lined with cheesecloth at each table and had them place the chopped cabbage inside. We then had them sprinkle salt on top and stir it up.
Instructions: While we waited for the salt to take effect on the cabbage, we began measuring and mixing the rest of the dumpling filling. Because this recipe had so many great ingredients that smell so different, we made sure they stopped to smell each thing – soy sauce, sesame oil, green onions, ginger, garlic, etc. We used some spices and impossible meat to round it out. By the time we finished with the other ingredients, the cabbage was ready. We had each kid squeeze the cabbage through the cheesecloth so that the moisture could be wrung out. This was probably their favorite thing! We added the cabbage to the rest of the mixture and had them stir it up really well as we sang our mixing song – “Stir, stir, stir the mix! Stir it nice and neat. Stir, stir, stir, stir, then we’ll get a treat!”
Now, folding the dumplings was a part I was worried about. So C came up with a great song that had all the steps included to help them with the process. It’s to the tune of “Ring Around the Rosy.” The words are “Teaspoon in the middle, water round the edges, fold it pinch it, my dumpling is done!” So we taught them the song and let them put a teaspoon of the mixture in the middle of the store-bought dumpling wrapper. Showed them how to dip their finger in water and sweep it across the edges to help bind the wrapper together. Then showed them how to fold the dumpling in half and pinch the edges to seal it. We didn’t have them crimp or do any fancy folds, just making sure that the dumpling was pressed together. As they finished folding their dumplings, C and I went around with cookie trays for them to place them on.
Storytime: This is where we took a break for the kids to go to a storytime about dumplings! Before C took them to the other room, I explained what I was going to do while they were away at storytime. I told them I had boiling water and that I was going to drop the dumplings in for them to cook. Then after 3 minutes, I would take them out and they’d be ready to eat.
Finishing Up: When the kids came back in, the dumplings were set out on the table and the kids really dug in! This was seriously the most excited I had seen them about anything we had made before! Every single one of them loved the dumplings and we got raving reviews from the caregivers, too!
Here’s the recipe we used and gave to all our participants:
Librarian Ginny 