Foundations for the Future

I did a thing – a very exciting thing as such. For my employer “Dicky Birds Nurseries” and “Kiddi Caru Nurseries” I have been allowed to be working on a very exciting project. Over the last year they have published a curriculum with programs for children between 2-5, called “Foundations for the Future” – it encourages children to be empowered, encourages them to become motivators, lets them explore different areas of their environment and builds their confidence, their communication and their skills in several key areas.

Among programs like “Move and Groove” or “Sow and Grow” there was a new program being developed, called “Make and Bake”. Luckily I was asked for my input and the managers of the program allowed me to bring in my own ideas and basically to run with it, which I appreciated so much. While the other programs focus on physical development, balance, mathematics and science and planting and growing, this one focuses on Baking and Cooking – and you might be able to tell that I am very excited about this!

The program includes 40 different recipes throughout the four seasons, most are either vegan or gluten free or can easily be adapted to be allergen aware and is designed to “engage, inspire and give children lots of opportunities to do as much as possible for themselves with minimal adult intervention, but lots of adult interaction and role modeling!”.

The program covers all seven areas of learning of the early years foundation stage (EYFS), being communication and language – new vocabulary is being introduced with every recipe, physical development – lots of new movements and elements such as knife skill and motor skills, personal, social and emotional development – making the connection with other children, comparing their work and creating a product to enjoy together, literacy – the recipes are easy to understand and can be very easily learnt and passed on, mathematics – measurements, amounts and comparison of weights, such as fluids to flour, or eggs to fruit, understanding the world – the recipes are multicultural and cover several holidays and important days, such as world book day, Father’s Day, Valentine’s Day or Chinese New Year and finally expressive art and design. When I designed the recipes I didn’t primarily focus on the eating part of the cooking, but put the main focus on the aspect of cooking itself – how do ingredients feel, how does it change if I add liquid, what happens to my fruit in the mixer- as I think cooking as an activity should be detached from the expectations that come with meal times. The children have a lot of freedom to shape or decorate their products. The other aspect that I personally really like is that all programs tie in with one another – for example: A lot of recipes use products previously grown in the nurseries gardens with “Sow and Grow”.

The children learn that not all recipes need to produce an edible product and even have the opportunity to explore a bit of science – for example with the “Mother’s Day Bathbombs” – a fizzy and exciting activity for mixing several ingredients to create a bath bomb in a shape of your choice.

Working on this program was an absolute delight for me and I am beyond excited how it turned out – although, as I said to a friend of mine: Cooking 40 recipes and photographing them in natural light wasn’t quite the relaxing weekend I had in mind. In the future I can hopefully contribute by offering amazing cooking classes in our nurseries and teach our little chefs various recipes – until then I leave them with the “Make and Bake” program.

Ps. Although I have mentioned it countless times, thank you so much, Linzi and Angela, for trusting me with this and especially for letting me take all the photos of the recipes – I had an absolute blast and it’s been such a pleasure to work with you.