Junior Chefs Get A Visitor

One of the best parts of being in the wonderful world of kindergarten is having our program open to family volunteers. 

They bring their talents.

They bring their energy.

They bring a sense of home.
 This day, Harlow's mom came in to bake with our junior chefs two of Harlow's favourites...

Snickerdoodles and Zucchini Bread!

 

Dry ingredients like flour, sugar and baking powder get measured and mixed.

 

For Snickerdoodles, just the right amount of cinnamon needs to be added.

It smells soooooo good!

 

Everybody gets a turn at adding something. 

Butter makes the cookies creamy.

 

Wet ingredients are mixed in a separate bowl.
Eggs are added to melted butter.

 
After a little stirring, the wet ingredients and dry ingredients are mixed together.

 

Sometimes, the ingredients are mixed with a spoon,
sometimes they are mixed with a simple machine like a hand mixer or egg beater.
This time, they were mixed with a machine that has a motor.
An electric mixer did the job!

Mrs. Webb helps all the children as she shows the right amount and the right technique for making 

a perfect Snickerdoodle cookie!

Roll the batter into a ball.

It's fun to feel the stickiness of the dough on your fingers.

Put the rolled batter onto a baking sheet. 

How does the dough start off in the shape of a ball

and end up in the shape of a cookie?

Some of the children recall the shape of a cookie and press each of the balls of batter just a little.

The trays are put into the hot oven and the timer is set...then...

Ding!

Warm Snickerdoodle cookies...just like mommy makes!

 

But that wasn't all!

While those Snickerdoodle's were cooking, 

Mrs. Webb had another surprise.

 

 Again, the dry ingredients and wet ingredients were measured and mixed together.

 

This time, the special ingredient was a vegetable. 

A great big zucchini was cut and prepared.

What could we do with the seeds and the scooped out insides?

 

Another machine was used to help prepare the zucchini for Zucchini Bread.

It needed to be shredded.

The perfect machine for shredding vegetables like zucchini is a food processor.  

The shredded zucchini is added to the batter and....

the batter is divided into two loaf pans which have been buttered to prevent sticking.

The Snickerdoodle's were cooling and the oven was ready for the Zucchini Bread to bake.

A most fantastic smell filled the air!

The most fantastic treats awaited us all at lunchtime!

But mostly...the greatest feeling was shared in the wonderful world of kindergarten.

Our kindergarten home is home to family and friends alike.

Scavenger Hunt In The Great OUtdoors

The fall weather has been so beautiful this last week! We have been spending much of our late afternoon time outside in the yard. One of the children's favourite activities was a scavenger hunt where they each had a photo of a landmark in the school yard and had to go on a hunt to find where it was.

This activity really encouraged children to pay close attention to the details in the photo. Working in pairs and groups they were able to describe what they saw to each other in the photo and try and find a match in our yard.

Not only was this activity great for helping children see similarities and differences in objects, it encouraged problem solving and teamwork! Way to go everyone!

In The Kitchen

What do you do with a large basket of apples? Make applesauce of course! The children engaged in a rich cooking experience this week by making applesauce together in the kitchen!

Cooking is a great way to help children use oral language and math. They learn about steps in a process and make a connection to good eating habits.

Most children are drawn to cooking experiences and welcome the chance to be included in such a fun activity!

The best part about cooking?  Eating what we made of course!