Cooking in School (7-11 Years)

a) There are a number of basic food skills which enable you to prepare a variety of simple dishes.

This learning objective should be taught through practical food preparation and cooking experiences.

Recap with the children the basic food skills they have already learned. These should include:

• the Bridge Hold;
• the Claw Grip;
• grating;
• peeling.

Show the videos of these skills in action. Ask the children:

• Who has used these skills?
• What did you make?

If time allows, demonstrate these skills to the class – this will not only create excitement, but will enable children to understand what is required at first hand. See the Demonstration guide for support. Involve the children by allowing several volunteers to help. Ensure that good personal hygiene and safe techniques are followed at all times. Go through each skill carefully to ensure that all children understand the safety aspects. See the Cooking guide to support.

You may wish to consolidate this previous learning by viewing additional recipe videos and/or setting up basic cooking activities.

For example you could show and/or make:

• Fruit Salad – using key skills to prepare a delicious and colourful salad;
• Simple Sandwiches – practicing slicing and spreading skills;
• Coleslaw – using slicing, grating and combining skills;
• Fruit Smoothie – using a blender, with supervision.
• Veggie Snacks – a hummus/yogurt mix in cucumber and pepper shells;
• Layered Salad – a colourful layered salad.

To further extend their range of skills and cooking techniques, introduce children to the following recipes.

This set of recipes builds on their basic skills, but also involves the use of heat in preparation and cooking:

• Cous Cous Salad – slicing and chopping, using a kettle to cook the cous cous, combining;
• Vegetable Kebabs – slicing foods and threading vegetables safely;
• Chunky Soup – different vegetable preparation, using a hob.

Although your school may not have the facilities, children could also be introduced, either through a demonstration or video, to:

• Stir-Fry Prawns – root ginger preparation, orange segmentation and stir-frying;
• Curry in a Hurry – Quick Lamb Rogan Josh and Mushroom and Chickpea curries.

These skills can be further enhanced by the teaching and learning of the following recipes to introduce new experiences and skills:

• Bread – accurate weighing and measuring, kneading, proving, shaping and baking;
• Fruit Scones – sieving, rubbing-in, combining, rolling out, cutting, baking;
• Gingerbread People – melting, combining, rolling out, cutting, baking, decorating;
• Fancy fish fingers - dusting, dipping, coating;
• Smoked haddock samosas - combining, assembling, folding.

These could be extended through:

• Delicious Dough: Pizza – rolling out, choosing traditional toppings, arranging and Chelsea Buns – rolling out, sprinkling, rolling up, slicing, baking;
• Cheese Straws – sieving, rubbing-in, grating, combining, cutting, baking;
• Blueberry Muffins – measuring, combining, sharing equally.

Additional ideas are also available as recipe cards and PowerPoint, including:

• Haulomi kebabs – grilled cheese and vegetable kebabs;
• Tomato, bean and pasta soup – a tasty Italian inspired vegetable soup.

All recipes stated above include suggested modifications, e.g. to promote fruit and vegetables or reduce fat or salt. Not all recipes need to be used – be selective and choose those best suited to the needs/abilities of the children you teach and the facilities you have in your school.

Plenary

Recap with children:

• There are a number of basic food skills which enable you to prepare a variety of simple dishes.
• There are lots of other food skills and techniques which enable you to extend the dishes you can already cook.

Further activities

Create a class or school recipe book featuring all the dishes that are cooked. Use a digital camera to record the results, along with action sequences of cooking.

Cook a variety of dishes on a theme, e.g. 5 A DAY, World War 2, countries around the world.

If your school has a gardening/growing area, see if you can use the vegetables or fruit in your cooking sessions. Raised beds, pots and hanging baskets are perfect for smaller schools or those with limited gardening space.

Reviewed August 2024