The last few months we have made it a goal in our room to do some more baking and cooking experiences with the children. We have made dirt and worms, granola bars and most recently broccoli bites.
Our goal has changed slightly to find a way to have a healthier snack that is still appealing to the toddlers. We found a few recipes and saved them to our iPad and showed the toddlers to let them decide which snacks we should make. Once we chose a recipe, we looked at the ingredients and wrote them down to take to Steph in the kitchen. Everyone was so excited to bake once our ingredients arrived. Each of the children got to take turns adding something to make our latest broccoli bites. They squished the broccoli into the food processor and stood back as educator Aly turned it on. Many comments could be heard throughout the classroom. "It's loud!" said Jacob. "Green," Marcus said excitedly. Once it was done we opened it up and Raiden asked "Where did it go?" referring to the big pieces of broccoli we had put in. As we took turns smelling it, Aly explained that the machine had cut up all the big pieces and made them small for us. We continued to practice patience as well as turn taking as each toddler got a chance to add something or help stir. "Two cups of cheese" Aly explained as we measured together and held up two fingers. "How many eggs?" she asked as she held up an egg. "One" said Hannah as she held up one finger. Repeating this process until our ingredients were all added and mixed together.
Next, we formed our mixture into balls and placed them on parchment paper; this is when it got extra fun! Everyone was invited to choose a ball and they got to squish it with a spoon just like how to do with our sand castles outside. "This is fun!" Luna said as she smashed hers down flat.
We got to taste them that same day with snack, and although many children were hesitant at first because it was so green, most ended up trying it and to our surprise the children we expected to not like them, enjoyed it the most! We will definitely have to make them again!
