Also known as Shrove Tuesday, Pancake Day is celebrated worldwide to mark the beginning of Lent and coincides with various other popular events. It teaches us the value of community, sharing, and reflection by enjoying the simple pleasures of spending time with loved ones and friends over a shared meal.
These concepts have shaped the provocations and experiences provided by educators and center chefs at St Nicholas Early Education. By focusing on self-help skills through baking-themed learning, our learners engaged in sensory play, created social connections, and strengthened their fine and gross motor skills.
How baking fosters learning
Engaging in baking-focused provocations and experiences allowed our learners to acquire a range of foundational skills that they can build on throughout their educational journey. From creating batter for centre chefs to cook to making batter-inspired mixes, experiences provided by educators were designed to harness learning and curiosity in these areas:
- Mathematics through measuring ingredients
- Science concepts through observing the chemical reactions occurring as ingredients were mixed
- Extending fine and gross motor skills by mixing and building their plate
- Expanding language proficiency and literacy learning through engaging with the terminology of recipes
- Growing knowledge around healthy and balanced eating
- Creative thinking as learners use their imagination to form the batter into different colours and shapes
- Developing social communication and interaction skills with educators and fellow learners through each stage of the experience
Learn about the experiences provided across our centres:
St Nicholas Early Education Newcastle West
With the guidance of their educators and centre chef, our Newcastle West learners worked together to make their pancakes for morning tea. Taking turns to follow each step of the recipe, they prepared the batter with a few special batches being turned into a selection of fun and vibrant colours. This experience provided a sense of accomplishment as our learners tasted their creations, which they had prepared themselves.
St Nicholas Early Education Muswellbrook
Thanks to the creativity of their educators our Muswellbrook learners enjoyed a fresh and fun morning tea of pancakes, yoghurt and fruit. Choosing their toppings, they sat down to nourish their bodies and share morning tea with their friends. This experience provided an opportunity to learn about healthy and balanced eating and allowed our learners to engage in diverse conversations with their friends, building their social connections.
St Nicholas Early Education Lochinvar
Challenging their creative and imaginative thinking, our Lochinvar learners mixed corn flour and water to create a play pancake mix. With a variety of utensils they mixed, whisked and scooped up the messy mixture to create their own pancakes in a variety of shapes. Building fine and gross motor skills alongside communication through dramatic play, our Lochinvar learners enjoyed the opportunity to branch out into uncharted baking territory.
St Nicholas Early Education Chisholm
With a selection of materials, our Chisholm learners engaged in several experiences designed to extend creative thinking and imaginative play. Alongside their educators, they explored play provocations that involved measuring and mixing ingredients, as well as creating different textured mixtures that mimicked pancake batter. These activities inspired dramatic play with their friends. Their play included baking scenarios, mealtime experiences, and more, as they took inspiration from their learning environments to weave narratives together.
