Montessori Activity: Preparing Food

Washing rice

 Age: From 6 years old

Objective(s):

1. To inculcate life skills.
2. To develop fine motor skills.

Directions:

1. Explain and demonstrate it to your child.
2. Let your child try.
3. If necessary, have two chopping board, and chop the vegetables along with him, so that he can see and do, while you are doing it.

Additional Information:

 J washing rice for the first time at 6.5 years. I only learned to wash and rinse rice at 28 years old, because I refused to learn from my mum, when I was a child.

J is also becoming better and better at chopping garlic. Today he helped to chop the French beans for the first time, and he was surprising handling it very well.

My part-time allows me to do this. I picked him up from after-school care between 3.30-4pm. We come home. He rests. I made avocado milkshake for him. And then we prepare dinner together. It makes daily life far more enjoyable. If I am working full-time, I would have to rush like crazy to pick him, and rush like crazy to make dinner. Now, I can enjoy making dinner with him, and teaching him some practical life skills. I feel really privileged.

Peeling garlic

Here is a video demonstration of peeling garlic:

Cutting garlic lengthwise.

Cutting garlic breadth-wise.

Cutting French beans.

Dicing onion.

Peeling carrot.

Cutting carrots.

Slicing celery lengthwise.

Chop celery breadth-wise into small pieces.

Chopping parsley.

Here is a video demonstration:

Slicing white mushrooms.

Slicing oyster mushrooms. 

Here is a video demonstration:

Cutting tomatoes.

Here is a video demonstration:

Cutting off the end of each stalk of caixin.

 

Cut into 2 inch pieces. Here is a video demonstration:

Wash, rinse and drain caixin.

Cutting meat into strips.

Mixing and marinading minced meat.