Katrina Parsons | Free Early Learning Resources for Teachers

I have recently been working with a local school in my area providing cooking lessons as part of their personal learning activity. I was trying to think of activities to do to fill up time while their creations were cooking and came up with the idea of doing food tastings that tied in with the recipe being cooked that day. 

What a success it has been!  The children have really engaged in this and, with very few exceptions, have tried all the different foods on offer despite there being many cries of “I don’t like that” at the beginning.  I think it is something to do with being in a non-pressurised environment – they were told they didn’t have to try anything they didn’t want to – and also the fact that all their other friends and peers were giving it a go. 

The first week I tried it we were making pizza so our food tasting was centred on pizza toppings.  The children tried red pepper, olives, artichokes and pepperoni.  Some interesting faces when olives were tried!  This week we were making fruit salad so our food tasting revolved around different fruits.  Next week we will be tasting different types of cheese which will tie in with cooking cheese scone twists very nicely!

The food tasting charts I have developed are simple to use but also provide a good learning outcome by asking the children to describe the look, texture and taste of the food they are trying.  As some of the children I have been working with are in Key Stage 1, the tasting charts offer suggestions on texture and taste but as you move into Key Stage 2, the children themselves could be asked to come up with the appropriate adjectives. 

Examples of tasting charts (click on the links to download):

Cheese tasting chart

Pizza topping tasting chart

Fruit tasting chart

katrina is a self-taught cook who is passionate about passing on an interest in food and basic cooking skills to families and children. She owns a small business called Kitchen Fairy Godmother in Norwich which provides cooking lessons, children’s cooking parties and a variety of cookery workshops.

I had the pleasure to work with a local charity called the Benjamin Foundation which is based in Norfolk.  The Benjamin Foundation helps families deal with everyday issues such as childcare and also the tougher and more sensitive issues like abuse and homelessness. 

The children who attend one of their drop-in centres wanted to do some baking so they could sell this at a local food fayre and raise some funds for their centre and also raise awareness of the work their charity does.

We had two baking workshops the day before the food fayre and the children made a variety of cakes, biscuits and muffins.  We had a very productive day which was great fun too. 

Cooking is a great way to reach out and teach children without them realising they are in a “classroom”.  The children had to read the recipes and follow the instructions within them.  We also worked on their maths skills by measuring ingredients and halving and doubling quantities.  There were no calculators allowed so their mental maths skills had a bit of a workout!

When they were selling their produce the following day, they had to add up and give the correct change which again helps their maths skills in a practical way.

This would be a great way for schools or playgroups to earn some much needed funds and help the children’s literacy and maths skills in a hands-on and fun way.  More information about the various cookery workshops I have run with community groups is available on my website: cookery workshops.

I have been lucky enough to have been involved in an inter-generational community project with my local school. The school, St Williams Primary School in Norwich, has forged links with The Marion Road Centre (Age UK Norwich) which offers local specialist care for frail elderly people. The school children have been working with older residents from the local community and members from the Marion Road Centre engaging through reminiscence, art and cookery projects.

My role has been to organise and run cookery sessions with six older people and six Year 3 pupils. Our ages have ranged from seven to over 90! Each week we bake a World War II recipe (I have found some wonderful cook books concentrating on war time and ration book cookery) and we talk around a theme. The themes have included rationing and food, travel, holidays and playtime.

This has really engaged the children and adults and lots of wonderful stories and memories are being passed on. The children are fascinated by how different things were in days gone by and the adults really enjoy the company of the children.

It has been a real privilege to be involved in this project and it’s something that I would recommend to all schools and early years settings. It could work particularly well in the build up to the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

I am delighted to be working with the Reepham Learning Community and extended schools programme which is very active in providing a wide range of activities for their local community. My involvement is in running a series of family cookery workshops. These take place on a Saturday morning and one parent comes along with either one or two children and we cook a main course and a dessert. The idea of these lessons is that not only do both parents and children pick up valuable cooking skills and learn some new recipes, but it provides a perfect opportunity for quality family time.

I know from experience that it is very hard to find time to cook with your children and when you do, the phone will ring, someone knocks on the door or at the last minute you are roped into being a taxi service! These lessons take place away from the home so there are no distractions and I think this is a major part of their success. Also, as we have up to nine families cooking together at once, there is plenty of opportunity for exchanging ideas about cooking and all sorts of other issues either over the sink or the mid-morning cup of coffee.

Of all the different lessons I do, these are some of the most rewarding. We have Mums cooking with sons, Dads cooking with daughters and every other combination. Some of the parents are experienced cooks while some very rarely get in the kitchen. But when the children come back the following week and proudly tell me how the whole family sat down to eat their meal, I know this is definitely the way forward.

Katrina is a self-taught cook who is passionate about passing on an interest in food and basic cooking skills to families and children. She owns a small business called Kitchen Fairy Godmother in Norwich which provides cooking lessons, children’s cooking parties and a variety of cookery workshops.