Cooking with children

Food technology involves all groups of people.Cooking and eating is loved by all and for children it is an experience full of fun and excitment.At my centre, the junior children are involved in cooking lessons  often combined with the seniors.To give them an experience for thier own was challenging. Following their interest  from the family corner and from sandpit I asked them if they would like to cook i the room.They were very excited about it and so we planned to make something different., not the cake and muffins and biscuits but Roti.They helped me collect the ingredients and carry them to the room. The ingredients were flour, salt ,oil ,butter with few basins, rolling boards and rolling pins. As they took turns some of them scooped  a cup full of flour each into their basins. Following instructions, they added pinch of salt and a spoon of oil to the flour. With asistance from a teacher and me they mix their flour with hot water.We allowed them to knead as the dough cooled a bit.Than they followed the demonstration and made small round balls out of their dough and rolled them gently on the board trying to make a circle. Not all could do a circle ,they ended up with all shapes,doesn't matter as long as they were thin enough to be cooked. It was amazing to see the little ones moving themselves around to roll the rotis.They then carried them on their small hand to a teacher who helped them to cook their rotis on a electric frypan . They were to stand and observed how their roti was cooked for them since the frypan was hot.
 This bought in lots of excitment and lots of questioning on how  and why as they observed the process..The smell of roti with butter on it attracted  lots of noses and soon others were there to investigate what was happening in the junior room. It did not take a lot of time when we had a plate full of hot rotis. It  was the time now to enjoy what they had made so all sat nicely around the table with a paper towels and enjoyed the delicious roti with butter on it. "yummy" , "this is nice may be we can make it again",  " more please",I like the roti". This is all we could hear for a while till all rotis finished.
 Later children from the senior room also came over to enquiry about when they will make roti and what they needed to make it.This was a good investigation and we committed to make more rotis soon. This experience were related to parents by their children as they came to pick them in the afternoon.We had some dicussions with some interested parents who want to make roti at home.This experience involvedsome measuring skills,manipulatives like coordination of eye and fingers and muscles,shapes, tecture and taste which builts onto hand -on experience ." The developing stages relate closely to language development,stimulation and encouragement received from adults and other children" ( Somerset,2000).  Linking to exploration in Te Whariki, " Children convey and receive information and ideas with increasing purpose,accuracy and confidence". This was obvious when children asked questions and measured the quantity of ingredients learning accuracy and mathematical concepts.Children have learned  widening social interaction,awareness of culture and food , and and learned the corect use of tools and equipments. ( Ministry of Education,1996). " Children experience an environment where they discover and develop different ways to be creative and expressive" ( MOE,1996,p.80). They are able to familiarize themselves with techonology and its use.Food technology is a topic that can be extended on and with children it is important to learn where the ingredients come from,ways of cooking. technology used in cooking ,cultural food and variety and develop on special values of learning and development.( MacNaughton & Willaims,2004)

cooked roti