Blog post 2: Yummy Peppermint creams

Cooking and making food is a technological activity adopted at my sustained practicum centre, due to children’s growing interest in playing cooking. To extend their interest, a cooking activity is organized each week by either teachers or parent(s).

A week ago, one of the staff teachers, six children and me made peppermint creams. There was a lot of excitement as children sat around the table, I engaged in their talk by asking questions; “How are pepper mint creams made? Interesting ideas come up. For instance, L a boy aged three and half said “when you are all done doing everything, you cook in the oven”. C a girl aged four, unsure about the difference between melting and cooling said “you put everything in the bowl, and you mix, and make small balls and put them in the refrigerator to melt”. All children were talking and contributing ideas and thoughts about their prior experiences. However some children did not have an idea how peppermint creams were made, nor did they understand the various terms used to describe peppermint creams.

Different technological tools were used to measure the ingredients which included the use of a food scale to weigh the required grams of butter; a cup was used to measure sweetened condensed milk and icing sugar. And a table spoon was used to measure peppermint essence and green food colouring. Another tool used was a wooden spoon for mixing and stirring the ingredients. Therefore the leaning outcome of using technology was met by the provision of tools and equipment, which enabled “children to recognize that different technologies may be used in various places and settings” ((Ministry of Education, 1996, p.95).

Children took turns in putting and stirring the ingredients in a big bowl. Those confident in stirring, offered to scaffold the ones who lacked the skill. After the ingredients were mixed, the children made small balls of peppermint creams, which were put on a baking tray covered with foil paper. The purpose of a foil paper was to prevent peppermint creams from sticking whilst they dried.

The second stage involved melting the chocolate chips in a microwave for few minutes. Some of the peppermint creams were dipped in the melted chocolate with the use of spoons, while the rest were left uncoated.  Before proceeding with putting the peppermint balls in the refrigerator to cool and harden the chocolate, I asked some questions because I wanted to find out what children knew about the technology behind the concepts of cooling and heating.  

Miriam: “I wonder what would happen if we put these creams in the refrigerator? 

G: “They get cold”.

“No they will be hard” argued C.

Miriam: “What if we took them outdoors”

K: “they will melt”

A: “They will get dirty and we can’t eat them,

Miriam: “why can’t we eat them?”

A: “because we can get sick” expressing sadness on his face.

E: “Outside the birds will eat them” strongly rejecting the idea of taking the cream balls outdoors. According to MacNaughton and Williams (2004), open ended questions broadens the knowledge and understanding of an experience being put across.

Furthermore, making of peppermint creams allowed a lot of informal learning to take place, such as the exploration of technological tools. And scientific facts were generated from children’s experiences (Bosse, Jacobs & Anderson, 2009).  For instance, children observed the change in matter from chocolate chips to liquid chocolate through the use of a microwave, as well as the use of a refrigerator to cool and harden the peppermint creams. Finally, children proved that they can make peppermint creams, as long as basic technological tools and equipment are available.
The interest from parents/whãnau has been immense that a receipe book for cooking is currently being made. This gives an opportunity to engage families/whãnau in their children’s learning through a shared and meaningful way (Ministry of Education, 1996). To build on this teachable moment, each child was given a receipe copy to take home. These yummy peppermint creams would make a great special Easter gifts to children’s families/whãnau and friends.  We all enjoyed eating the peppermint creams with everybody at kindergarten that day, YUMMY!

REFERENCES

Bosse, S., Jacobs, G. & Anderson, T. I. (2009). Science in the air. Young Children. 64 (6). 10-15

MacNaughton, G., & Williams, G. (2004). Techniques for teaching young children: (2^nd ed.). Frenchs Forest, NSW, Australia: Pearson Prentice Hall.

 Choices in Theory and Practice

Ministry of Education. (1996).Te Whāriki: He Whāriki mātauranga mō ngā mokopuna o Aotearoa: Early childhood curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.