Years ago, I put together a cooking kit for my classroom which has really come in handy over the years. I thought all the new teachers might find this idea useful because it’s nice to have a set of kitchen tools that stay in the classroom. That way I don’t have to bring them from home every time we do a cooking activity (and half the time, I know I would forget to bring something anyway). We do mostly no-heat “cooking” activities in my classroom.
These are some items I recommend for a classroom cooking kit. Some of these items are even useful in science experiments.
Measuring cups: I have two sets of these in my cooking kit in case both my assistant and I need a set. Usually, our groups are not cooking at the same time, but occasionally we might.
Measuring spoons
Can opener and bottle opener. The can opener comes in handy when we make apple pie. The bottle opener is useful for opening cans of evaporated milk.
Ice cream scoop: We may occasionally use it for scooping ice cream, but it is also useful for spooning instant pudding into cups.
Spoons are always useful for stirring or scooping. These can be found in sets of 4 for $1 in many dollar and discount stores. We used spoons to stir our donut mix.
Blunt knives: Children are allowed to use these to cut soft things, such as bananas. Slicing is great for fine motor development as well. These also come in sets of 4 for $1 at discount stores. We used our knives to slice bananas to make banana pudding.
Mixing bowl: Needed for many cooking activities.
A knife with a cover. These can be found for $1 or less at places like Dollar Tree and Walmart. I always keep it out of children’s reach when I’m not using it. If I lay it down, I make sure I lay it on a very high shelf.
These manual rotary beaters
My cooking set all fits into a plastic shoe box. I bag most of the kitchen tools in ziplock bags to separate them, and when needed the bag can be pulled out and placed in our small group bin without worrying about germs.
What are some things you find useful to keep in your set of kitchen tools at school? Please share in the comments below this post.
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Years ago I purchased an “apple, peeler, corer, slicer” we use it every fall to cut apples for applesauce and for apple pie. It can be used for potatoes too although I have never used it for that in my preschool classroom. Mine uses suction to adhere to the table, I have seen clamp ones but they are not as user-friendly for classroom use.
Thanks for sharing all your great ideas, Karen! I have a classroom cooking kit for my K/1 class and I find a cutting board to be a handy thing to have around too. I’m missing a few of the tools you mentioned here, so I will be adding those to my kit…thanks again!
Wow! What a great idea! Way better than pulling all those things together again and again and toting them back and forth…LOL! I’m definitely going to put this together. Thanks for making it so easy!
My favorite apple activity is to cut up and cook apples without removing the skin. I show students how they look raw, uncooked, then show them another pan that has the apples cooked quite soft. I put a Foley Food Mill over a large bowl and have the students scoop the cooked apples from the pot into the top of the food mill and take turns turning the handle. The pealing stays in the food mill pan and wonderful applesauce appears below in the bowl. Students can stir in cinnamon and sugar or Splenda then enjoy the snack they’ve created. Moms are amazed at this activity too.
Most anything found in playdough center is also helpful with cooking center – cookie cutters, rolling pin, etc. Also, food coloring can be very useful with cooking!
Another excellent idea! Thank you!
That is an awesome idea!! Thanks so much for sharing with us. As a new teacher I am always looking for activities that I can do with my students that will help them learn as well as have fun. I mean after all, learning should be a fun and exciting experience! 🙂
When I first started teaching preschool, my room had an electric skillet. I learned that you can cook almost anything in it, from pancakes to applesauce to cupcakes!
I always made butter with my preschoolers so I had a couple small plastic, lidded containers for shaking, great for pudding, and ice cream in a “bag” recipe too, along with a plastic gallon jug that the shaker fit into, we would play roll the jug, as we sang songs, to make the ice cream freeze.
I love cooking with my daycare kids and have items specific for their use but never thought to gather them all up and put the in a container….So simple and I’m putting this on my to do list every bit of organization makes my day a whole lot easier.
Thanks
I love your cooking kit! I wish I can have some of those at home because they are very handy and do not occupy too much space for storage. I am sure that children get very excited during cooking class. I guess it is one way to keep them busy while making them feel that they’re in charge. Thanks for sharing!
I just want to thank you for providing such an awesome site. I love it and the kids love the activities I bring in that I have found on your site. Thank you!!
I find a blender to come in handy and the children love to help push the buttons and watch our food or drink “spin”. I also like the apple corer, it helps with fine and gross motor when they are trying to push it down over the apple.
Thanks for a great idea and all the visuals.
Thanks for a great idea. Definetly I will do it.
Thanks Karen,for sharing the lovely ideas.it is really useful.