Ms. Szymaszek’s Investigations:
You
have to mix it like this, just like you stir up the eggs.
November 8, 2012
Throughout the course of the semester, the children have been
interested in cooking, and the tools needed to cook. Earlier in the semester, the children fixated
on baking, using clay in muffin tins, cookie cutters with playdough, and
rolling pins with cloud dough. Earlier
in the week, the children talked about using a big pot and a ladle to make “potions.” To further this investigation, the children
explored with mixing bowls, whisks, soap and water.
At first, the children noted that the water
looked green. They inquired about the
name of the tools provided at the table.
“They look like the things on a mixer.
They spin around like this. It goes
really fast!”
After a few minutes, the
children noticed the bubbles they created by mixing the water with the
whisk. After a while, the children
talked about how they could whisk the water faster to make more bubbles. The teachers noted that the bubbles looked
like meringue from a pie. The children
made a mixing game, saying “faster!” or “slower!” every few seconds.
In the afternoon, the children continued their exploration by using potato mashers with playdough. The children talked about how they could squish the playdough with the masher, and commented on the different marks the mashers made. Interestingly enough, the children wanted to use the masher with many "holes" instead of the ones with the "squiggly lines." The children decided to use a timer to rotate the tools amongst themselves, so that "everyone could have a fair turn."
In the next couple of weeks, we would like to continue to explore with the tools required for baking and cooking. We will continue to explore with whisks and mashers, as well as measuring spoons and cups. We will also be making snack together, starting with scrambled eggs for snack--which will require a whisk--and oatmeal raisin cookies for curriculum night. We hope to see you there!
