Cooking in the classroom

cooking in the classroom

I was extremely lucky during my first few years of teaching to have a small kitchenette connected to my classroom. This allowed for weekly lessons in cooking and baking for my life skills class of students. When I moved buildings and classroom, I quickly realized how good I had it in my old classroom.

My new classroom had 4 walls, a mounted tv and pencil sharpener, and a few shelves. That was pretty much it. I had a hard time thinking of what could be done to continue helping my students learn how to cook.

After thinking for a while, some Pinterest, and a little creativity, I figured out that I needed some few key things and I could set my students up for quite a few cooking experiences within my own classroom.

We learned a ton while we learned to make, cook, and bake!

We learned kitchen basics and kitchen safety! We learned measurements. We learned how to read recipes, comprehend what we read and see if we liked what we made. Sometimes we took leftovers home. Sometimes we would think about what we could change in the recipe to make it better. Sometimes we’d make the same recipe again, and I would just facilitate the lesson, and let my students work together as a team.

I’ve put together a small list of items you could use to create your own mini classroom! (Legal Disclaimer – the products below are listed with my amazon referral link. If you make a purchase from them, I get a small commission as an affiliate. This will not affect your cost at all!)

To help you get started I’ve even included a free recipe activity at the bottom.

So what’s in a mini classroom kitchen you may ask?

Cooking Utensils, an Electric Griddle, a bowl, a waffle maker, and a toaster oven.

You may have some extras of these in your kitchen. Your family and friends may have some they are willing to donate as well! We know as teachers trying to be cost-effective as possible is the best possible way to go. So don’t be afraid to ask around. You never know what you will get! If you ask though and can’t find what you need, never fear! I have some ideas for you.

So why for each?

Cooking Utensils & a bowl – I bought several $1.00 utensils and even a mixing bowl from the Dollar Tree. I got tongs, a turner, measuring spoons, measuring cups, spatulas, and more. If you don’t have a dollar tree near you, Amazon has your back with this complete set.

You have to have your basic cooking utensils as the start of any classroom mini kitchen!

Electric Griddle– Typically during black Friday and the days that follow many stores have them for cheap! 10 bucks or so. Sometimes even free after rebates!

SO what can you make with a griddle?

We made pancakes, eggs, French toast, grilled cheese, quesadillas, bacon, grilled chicken. I could go on. But you get the idea.

Waffle Maker– Again these are typically 10 bucks or even free after mail-in rebates after black Friday.

What can you make with a waffle maker?

Waffles of course. But seriously the possibilities are endless. You can cook cinnamon rolls, brownies, cakes, muffins, omelets, hash brown, quesadillas, corn dogs, ramen (Yes you read that right), and even mac and cheese! Pinterest blew my mind.