Over the past couple months, it’s become abundantly clear that the School-age 2 children are IN LOVE with pickles. They’ve quickly become the most popular snack- the one all the children swarm to grab. One child in particular, loves them so much, sharing has become a bit of a challenge. Because of this, we’ve had to keep pickles with the educators, who now portion them out to make sure everyone gets their fair share.
“This wouldn’t
happen if Janice just gave us the whole pickle jar” Autumn insisted.
“Maybe we can grow our own cucumbers and make our own pickles, so we don’t have to share with the rest of the daycare!” Emerson suggested.
“That is a fantastic idea! I wonder how we could make our own pickles?” The educator prompted.
The children used one of the Ipads to google how to grow cucumbers.
“It can take up to 70 days to grow cucumbers?” Elora questioned after reading this information off the internet.
“That is way too long, I cannot wait that long.” Kyrielle insisted.
Curious to learn more, the children continued their research and discovered that you can pickle almost anything – eggs, onions, beans, asparagus, beets, and more! Excited by the possibilities, together the childre
n discussed what vegetables they want to try pickling.
“We should write a letter to Janice to ask her to buy the ingredients for us! I can write it.” Kyrielle offers.
With great team work, the children collaborated to create a list of the ingredients needed to make pickled vegetables. After some discussion the children agreed on carrots, cucumbers, and green beans. Together they wrote a letter to our cook, Janice, asking if she can purchase the ingredients needed. Janice had then let us know what items she already had on hand, and what items she will purchase.
Once the ingredients were ready, the educators gathered all the ingredients to bring down to the class room. We set up the table with cutting boards, child safe knives, empty jars, and the ingredients we needed to make the pickle juice. The children actively participated in peeling and cutting up vegetables and adding the ingredients to the jars.
Through this hands-on experience, the children developed their fine motor skills, language and literacy (through letter writing) and cooperative play as they worked side by side. They also engaged in scientific inquiry by exploring how pickling works.
With research, we learned that for the best flavour the jars should sit in the fridge for 24-48 hours to allow the vegetables to absorb the pickle juice. After the weekend, the educators brought down the 3 pickled jars and set it up on the snack table ready to share. When the children arrived, it was clear that they were very eager about trying each item. They all gathered around the table each trying the carrots, beans, and cucumber. While listening to their discussions, we learned that carrots was not the favourite in the group, the beans and the cucumber were a hit, even our little preschool friends who came in to pick up their siblings enjoyed our tasty treats.
The pickle vegetables were such a success, it was part of our afternoon snack for a couple days. Some children were sad to see that the jars were empty.
For the next step, with some discussion, the children expressed interest in growing their own vegetables. We are excited to explore what else we can pickle and continue our journey of healthy eating, hands-on learning and exploration.
