Science in the Kitchen

The Daycare
Community

When we remember our science classes in school we probably bring to mind tests, memorization and endless unfamiliar terms.  Perhaps we also recall the messy experiments where things fizzled and burned, how we dissected familiar and unfamiliar things, weighed, measured and peered through microscopes.   This aspect of science happens in our kitchens every day.  Including children in it is not only easy but natural, educational and an important part of their development.

Children learn primarily through their sense organs and through imitating adults around them.   By offering children sensory opportunities to join in your everyday activities of food preparation you bring the world of science to them in a way that can benefit them.

Perhaps the day begins with children arriving at breakfast time.   Maybe there is coffee in the coffee pot or oatmeal cooking on the stove.   Already their sense of smell is stimulated.  They can see the steam rising from the vessels and they know, if not intellectually then on a sensory level, that chemistry is taking place.   Perhaps you let them carry cereal boxes to the table and assist them in choosing and pouring their own breakfast.  This is the toddler version of weighing and measuring in the laboratory!   They feel the differences in weight between the cereal and milk and experience first hand how they each fill the bowl.  The same with the juice in a glass or a piece of fruit on the side.   The bonus is that they get to taste it as well-- something our chemistry classes rarely allowed!

At snacks and lunch, preparation can be much more involved and fun.   Since we have so many different developmental levels in family day care, we must be creative; the same type of participation might not be appropriate for each child.  The baby may play with a pile of flour in the high chair or on the floor, while a two year old enjoys stirring and feeling the dough or batter, and three and four year olds help measure and pour in the ingredients.  All children but infants enjoy sniffing the spices in the bottles as we use them.   The plastic serrated disposable knives from picnic-ware are quite safe for most ages to help with cutting up fruits and vegetables.  (Much more pleasant than that frog some of us had to dissect in biology.)

Once the casserole or pizza or bread has been assembled, a stove with a window in the door allows a "TV show" of the chemical reaction that heat causes.   If you have no window, then the children just have a feel of the science magic that happens as they see the before and after of their experiments.   Stove top cooking is more difficult.  We have to keep their quick fingers and curious noses away from danger, but sometimes we can lift the pot off the burner and carefully let them see and smell the changes taking place.

It's easy to talk too much to preschoolers.   These littler ones need us to be more still and allow them to fully experience their lessons with their senses.   A few well chosen words and gestures that are worthy of imitation go much farther with these little "sponges."

I don't think I have to say much about the science that goes on once the food is prepared and we are gathered around the table to eat!   We are all familiar with children's enthusiastic experimentation at lunch time.   Realizing that the messy observations that the children make are part of process helps us be more patient with our little Einsteins.

When the cooking and eating are done, science continues with clean up.  Water play in the kitchen sink stimulates the senses all over again.  The children can learn about and imitate life on earth while experiencing the properties of water, soap and how they effect a change on the dirty dishes.  They can observe the laws of gravity and evaporation as the water drips off them in the drainer after they've poured, splashed, rinsed, and helped to wipe up all the spills and messes they've made.

Today, I noticed when lunch was all done, the countertops tidy again and I was breathing a small sigh of relief, that the science lessons in my kitchen still continued as the toddlers began rearranging the refrigerator magnets!  It seems the opportunities for exploring the world of science are endless and effortless when children are involved.

This article was first published in the Department of Human Services publication Child Care Matters, issue 57, Summer 2001.