Food Sensory & Science Activities

Food is such an amazing way to connect, explore and get the kids truly engaged in science and sensory! I love being able to show the kids in my daycare the difference that can be made in the kitchen and how cooking and baking is a special form of “magic” that we can all enjoy! 

For our culinary discovery we used up some stale ingredients I just couldn’t throw away, I hate the idea of food waste in such an expensive time. I had some stale noodles, some old expired canned green beans (nobody was eating them they were smooshed for sensory) and the rest of the food was completely fine and used up as edible food. 

Discovering pasta! 

Pasta is pretty cool to kids. It starts off hard then when you cook it somehow it magically becomes soft and squishy. We used it as beads to create necklaces and then cooked it and coloured it for a sensory bin discovery. 

The magic of green onions! 

Green onions are not always a crowd pleaser but they certainly make their way into my food on a regular basis. Whether I top them on my nachos or make them into a sandwich with some high protein tuna I love them so much. The kids got to smell them, taste them, feel them and see how when you trim them to eat them and leave them in water they grow back again and again because of their special roots! I recommend regular water changes and rinses in your onion jar to maintain freshness or they do rot and begin to smell and taste funny.

Everyone loves cookies!

Making cookies is always a joyful occasion for kids! They love the mixing, rolling, watching and tasting. Today we made Jam Thumbprint cookies and it was a great experience, very sweet cookie and smelled amazing in the oven! Here is my custom recipe I created:

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

1 1/2 cups margarine

1 1/2 cups white sugar

5 cups flour (more if it’s sticky)

Any flavour jam

1. Combine sugar and margarine until creamy. Add the condensed milk and stir to completely combine.

2. Slowly add a cup of sugar at a time until it forms a rollable dough. 

3. Roll balls and press a thumbprint on the center. Add a small dollop of jam and bake for 15-20 mins until golden brown. 

Enjoy! 

Canned, fresh, or frozen? 

Discover the different look, taste, texture and smell of a green bean in each different form and then plant them to watch them grow! Beans are a very fun plant to grow with kids because they grow so quickly so begin them inside and measure them each day to watch the change take place. 

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Check out our Sensory Tray Ideas for some boredom busters!