Happy New Year everyone! Today I’m sharing an activity (and a freebie!) that I will be doing with my class this month as we continue to fine tune our sequencing skills and our how-to writing. I love doing a hands-on activity before we do how-to writing. I have some very concrete learners and it makes a significant difference when they can actually DO what it is that they are writing about. Making any sort of kabob is a good way to practice patterns, sequencing and fine motor skills. For the past three years I have had students with peanut allergies so this is also a great way to use food in the classroom without worrying about nut allergies. I always call home to my allergy parents to make sure they feel comfortable with the activity first. They have always been happy to have their child involved in a safe food activity at school, since those are few and far between for our allergy kids!
Whenever I do a cooking activity with my class, I try to prep all of the materials beforehand. For an activity like this, I suggest divvying up the ingredients onto plates or into bowls so each child has his or her own set of ingredients. Then you also avoid any sticky fingers from contaminating the ingredients. Yuck!
Depending on the level of your kiddos, you can talk about kitchen safety while you prep the ingredients. I always teach the kids about washing produce, knife safety and clean hands.
- For some learners, the fine motor manipulation of pinching the foods and sliding them on will be the bulk of the activity.
- Ask them to make a particular pattern (AB, AAB, ABA, ABC).
- Make it a listening and following directions activity. Tell them what order to put them in. After you are done, show them your kabob and see if their kabob matches yours.
- Ask students to verbally describe the pattern they made.
- Ask students to describe someone else’s pattern.
- Have students work with a partner on giving directions and conversational skills.
