10 MONTESSORI FOOD PREPARATION ACTIVITIES FOR TODDLERS

10 Montessori Food Preparation Activities For Toddlers by Bérénice Saint-Saëns

I discovered Montessori, received my International Montessori teacher certification (AMI), and became an Infant/Toddler teacher. I eventually transitioned out of the classroom to join a company I love, Monti Kids, where I help families to bring education into their homes starting at birth.

Just click here and use code HOLLY60 to get $60 off your first order from Monti Kids.

While I am no longer in the classroom, one of my favorite things in my Montessori Toddler classroom was observing the children prepare their own snack everyday.

Food preparation activities for children, especially between the ages of 0-3 years, are not only fun to do and observe, but they are also so important for a young child’s development.

Such activities allow a child to:

• Feel a sense of belonging to their community
• Support the development of their coordinated movements
• Learn to care for themselves.

Additionally, through food preparation activities, a child is able to refine their senses, which is so important since they learn through their experiences which are absorbed through their senses at this young age.

“Cooking with real food allows a child to understand where food comes from.”

Often, I see many children playing at home or in other classroom environments using kitchen sets and fake food. While this may be fun, it removes so many of the important aspects that cooking with real food offers. Giving a child the opportunity to understand and engage in the process of preparing a meal is so beneficial.

Cooking with real food allows a child to understand where food comes from. For instance, when a child squeezes oranges to make juice, they not only feel the different textures of the fruit, smell the orange, and see the juice come out, but they also get to reap the benefits of their hard work, as they enjoy a fresh glass of orange juice!

Sensorial education helps a child understand food and where it comes from. Additionally, these activities are opportunities for language development (names of the food, explanation about the different parts of the food, colors, smells, and the instruments we use to work with the food, etc.), and mathematics can also be incorporated!

A friend of mine once said, “A child must learn ‘what is’ before ‘what if.’” Let’s give our children real food activities, so that they may ask as many “what is” questions!

10 Montessori Food Preparation Activities For Toddlers

1. Spreading cheese on crackers/English muffins/bagels
2. Baking bread/muffins/scones
3. Slicing fruit (apples, bananas, melon)
4. Peeling & slicing hard-boiled eggs
5. Squeezing citrus to make juice or flavored water
6. Making guacamole
7. Sorting fruit
8. Slicing cheese
9. Making mini-pizza
10. Peeling & slicing carrots

What Montessori food preparation activities for your toddler have you been working on at home? Leave a comment below and share with us your fun ideas!

Ready to take the next step into Montessori with your toddler?

Join us in The Montessori Learning Center to learn everything you need to know about Montessori with your family! Click the image below to learn more.