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CARROT CAKE DAY

Monday 3rd of February was Carrot cake day! We need no excuse to cook and eat cake but this was an opportunity not to miss!
We joined Heather and her mindees  for the morning and set about making some yummy cake. 
So many skills were used and the children were learning so much in a way that they were totally unaware of.
We used the scales and pointed to the numbers, asking them to say “Stop” when the ingredients reached the numbers we needed. Little “R” recognised some of the numbers. She recognised the 3 in the 300g marker because “That is my number!” meaning her age.
Early years Outcomes- 
 Mathematics (numbers) 30- 50 months
  •  Shows an interest in numerals in the environment.  
  • Shows curiosity about numbers by offering comments or asking questions. 
Mathematics (numbers) 40- 60 months  
  • Recognise some numerals of personal significance. 

We followed a recipe and talked about the ingredients and how much of each we needed. We looked at the method  for making the cake and followed the steps.

Early years Outcomes- 


Communication and Language (Understanding) 30- 50 months

  • Responds to simple instructions, e.g. to get or put away an object. 

There were lots of jobs that needed to be done that used Physical skills such as pouring, stirring, grating and cracking the eggs.

Little “R” managed to grate the carrots with very little help. Once she was shown how to do it she did not want any help and told me that she could do it herself. We talked about the Dangers of the sharp grater and how we needed to be careful with our fingers!

Early years Outcomes-

Physical Development (Moving and handling) 40- 60 months

  • Uses simple tools to effect changes to materials. 
  • Handles tools, objects, construction and malleable materials safely and with increasing control.  
  • Shows a preference for a dominant hand. 


LEARNING INTENTIONS AND IDEAS FOR EXPANDING LEARNING:

  • Today’s activity was offered as a fun experience that helped the children to learn life skills (cooking),
  • assess risks for themselves (The dangers involved in using sharp tools, hot ovens and general food hygiene)
  • Experience numbers, weights and measures in an everyday situation and hands on way.
I will offer more cooking opportunities for the children to practice these concepts and skills more fully and also provide homecorner/ role play props for them to recreate this experience in their free play to help them cement this learning.


CHARACTERISTICS OF EFFECTIVE LEARNING:

Little “R” was fully interested and engaged in this activity. She enjoys cooking and re-enacting cooking in the homecorner. She was willing to take part and have a go. Using her knowledge of cooking, safety concerns, using scales etc to guide her. She was motivated, I think, by the idea that she would get to eat something yummy at the end!! She also enjoyed trying new things such as grating the carrots and clearly enjoyed achieving this goal by herself. She shared her knowledge of cooking and using hot ovens to keep others safe and offered advice and ideas to us as we went along. 

Today’s play, meets the following EYFS Prime and specific areas
  • Communication and Language
  • Physical Development
  • Understanding the world
  • Mathematics

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