Capilano in the Kitchen

On Thursday December 13^th and Monday December 17^th, we came together as a class to make Christmas Cookies for our Christmas party. The children had a lot of fun, and were very proud to be able to share all 8 dozen with their friends, family and friends.

We are extremely fortunate being a part of Hardisty's family in their school. Their very encouraging Home Economics teacher (as our school is a k-9 school) offered access to the Home Ec room to do our cooking so we collected some volunteer parents and very giving families to help us collect the materials. 

When we started our cooking class I asked the children what a recipe was. One child told me it is something that tells us what to do when making food. It was wonderful to hear that some of them were familiar with the kitchen. Bringing your child into the kitchen to help prep food is a wonderful way to spend time with your children, and a marvelous learning opportunity for many reasons.   

·         It helps show them the value of what you’re eating. It can show how much of each ingredient is in what you eat, and can help you discuss good eating choices.

·         It offers math opportunities! I personally, learn better when I can apply learning to real life situations. So when I can see what 1 cup looks like, or what happens when I half something, it really enriches the ah ha moments. This way when teachers in grade one explain to a child “one plus one is two” they can see that equation.

·         It creates early literacy. When you’re reading the recipe, the words have meaning in which you are carrying out, directions.

·         It allows questions. Why do we need sugar, flour and vanilla? Where do we get these items?

·         It allows sensory. What does vanilla smell like? What does dough feel like? What do smarties taste like *wink*

·         It shows proper hygiene. It is not acceptable to scratch our skin and then touch the batter. What should be done to ensure cleanliness?

·         It inspires and creates memories and ever lasting warm moments

We began our cooking excursion by talking about the details of our recipe. I asked the children too shout out the number and I would continue reading what we were adding. The children began shouting 
"1 ... " and I would respond, "cup of butter" 
"1 ..." ... "cup of sugar!" and so forth.

The adults added all of the liquid ingredients, and the children each took turns pouring in our dry ingredients.

Cooking is full of fun sensory! The sounds of the hand mixer and using our motor skills to keep it in the batter, the smell of the vanilla, which some of the children loved where others were not impressed.When the cookies had finished baking, they smelt as good as they looked! And with all of the colourful Smarties, they tasted as amazing as they looked. 

We had a lot of fun creating a sweet treat to share with our friends and families.

Sincerely,

Ms Asha

Christmas Cookie Recipe

·         1 cup butter, softened

·         1 cup white sugar

·         1 cup packed brown sugar

·         2 eggs

·         2 teaspoons vanilla extract

·         3 cups all-purpose flour

·         1 teaspoon baking soda

·         1/2 teaspoon salt

·         2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

·         1 cup Christmas Smarties

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter along with salt. Stir in flour, chocolate chips, and smarties. Drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased pans.
3. Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely browned