Regina Assiniboine:  Kids in the Kitchen

Submitted by Judy Lyons
CPC Regina Assiniboine  

‘Our’ kids at Creativity & Culture spent the month of April and May preparing and cooking their own snacks for their weekly after-school program. And…making good use of the microwave our Club donated last Christmas. We noticed the kids wanted to be in the kitchen with us ‘where the action was’ and asking “what was for the snack today”? So Marci and Judy met with Leila Francis, the director of the program and presented a new proposal.

Marci and Judy wanted to bring the kids into the kitchen to teach them how to read recipes, measure ingredients, cook for themselves, and of course serve the food. Leila agreed wholeheartedly and gave us her blessing to start immediately. Each weekly visit was then split between arts/crafts and cooking.

Marci also taught them about nutrition…the ‘always foods’ and ‘sometimes foods’. You know…always foods are the ones you can have all the time (veggies) and sometimes foods are the ones you should only have sometimes (ice cream).

These photos you see were taken during our “Pancake Party”. The kids prepared and mixed the batter, then grilled their own pancakes. As you see, they are having lots of fun! And...they ate every last one!

They have a keen interest to be in the kitchen and are proud of themselves knowing that they can cook with successful results. Most importantly, they are learning much needed life skills we hope they’ll appreciate forever…