We have always enjoyed and valued cooking with the children but my visit to Lucknow Kindergarten in Havelock North, New Zealand inspired me to tackle making bread with the children – the old fashioned way, just our hands – no machinery! what a hit!
Children who won’t eat the crusts on their sandwiches cheerfully ate one (or more) pieces of crusty fresh bread buns. Lucknow has deliberately replaced playdough with edible dough experiences as part of their sustainability practices. I respect their thinking about this, although different situations mean that we won’t be baking bread or making pasta every day. I also feel that the field of cooking is too important to limit to dough – but it is lovely to make staple foods like bread with the children – to emphasise that their food does not originate in a plastic bag on a supermarket shelf.
A number of the children commented on how hard it was to squeeze and pinch the dough into a ball – great for fine motor skills and strength development. We know now that movement is essential to brain development, and we have always known the importance of sensory development. There’s no app for that – we have to manipulate and move our bodies to develop our brains.
We hope someone might bring some cereal seeds in next week – like wheat and barley – to further illustrate the important role that farmers play in producing our food.
