FMA’s preschool scholars had a cooking day in the library. They made homemade pancakes! After reading picture books with pancakes as the main theme, I was inspired to extend this theme by actually making pancakes with these students. Throughout the unit, students learned how maple syrup is made, what recipes and ingredients are and the utensils that were needed to make our pancakes and some cooking terms. (I also incorporated a mini science lesson by talking about what ingredients in our recipe were liquids and solids and how the batter (liquid) turned into a solid (pancake) after being cooked.) I created picture cards of the utensils and ingredients and displayed them in the order that we were using them. Therefore, students were aware of what went first, second, next, etc.
With the most grateful assistance from preschool TA, Gaetane Joseph, two groups were created and students identified utensils and ingredients and started measuring, mixing and creating the batter! Keeping a safe distance from the griddle, students observed how to pour the batter and looked for the little bubbles that appear on the top -- that’s the signal to flip! Best of all, students got to eat their pancakes with butter and maple syrup as well as share with Principal Harris and other members of our school community. Our activity was a success! Our students were so proud of themselves and excited to participate in a cooking activity at school! Smoothies next?