Food Technology - Why did the colour change?

Blog One

Date: 28.03.11

Introducing food technology to the children is always a pleasure; it is a creative and fun way to teach children many lifelong skills that can only enhance their growth and development (Smorti, 1999).

Today I was with a group of children at the playdough table where I observed R using playdough to make roti (Indian bread). He rolled the playdough into a small dough and used the rolling pin to make it bigger. He then showed it to his friends and said “ this is how my mum makes roti”. S who was listening quickly turned around and said ‘Monika what is roti?’. I explained to S that it is an Indian bread made using flour.  S continues ‘can we make it today’.Te Whāriki, He Whaariki Mātauranga mo nga Mokopuna o Aotearoa (Ministry of Education, 1996) “children develop interest and pleasure in discovering an unfamiliar wider world where the people, images , objects, languages, smells, and tastes are different from those at home” ( p. 56).

After a little discussion we decided that we would make roti for our lunch. The children washed their hands and came to the table. I read the receipe to them and we gathered our ingredients and measured 5 cups of flour, 2 cup warm water and 2 tbsp cooking oil.  Each child participated and had turns at adding spoonfuls of flour into the cup. The warm water was added to the flour to make a dough. I reminded children about the safety precautions since the water was warm. The children had turns mixing and stirring the flour . While looking at this L said "this is how we make playdough”.  That is true L but we are not going to use the colour in making roti. The children took turns to knead the dough well and then added the cooking oil to give a smooth look. Then we divided the big dough into many small doughs for everyone. On a lightly floured surface, the children flattened their dough using their hands. After that the children used the rolling pin to roll out the dough into a thin round patty. I demonstrated them how we use rolling pin to make the dough bigger. P calls out “I got a big circle”. 

Then I turned on the fry pan. I adjusted the knob to 180 degrees celcius. K was watching me and said “I use fry pan at home and mum said that when we use big numbers the pan is going to be hotter”. This shows that the children are exposed to technology at home. I again remined everyone that the fry pan is going to be hot. The children learnt about the safety precautions while being near to hot objects. Each child had a turn in turning their roti using a spatula. As accoring to Te Whāriki  “children develop confidence that they can participate and take risks without fear of harm” (Ministry of Education, 1996, p. 52).

While they were making their roti K asked me ‘Monika the roti was white when I put it in the fry pan but when I turned it why did it change colour?’. B was listening and said the fry pan is hot  K and our roti is cooking. It is true that technology can amaze children. The New Zealand Curriculum Framework states that technology is the “transformation of energy, information and materials” and that food is one of the area covered within the area of technology ( Ministry of Education, 2007). When it was done we made a roti wrap with chicken, tuna, carrot and cheese . All the children enjoyed eating healthy lunch.

 Smorti (1999) states that “process cooking” is a purposeful, technological activity which meets children’s learning needs (p.6). Cooking with children encourages creativity, responsibility and invlovement. It requires hands on use of maths concepts ,planning and thinking. In this roti making experience children were problem solving as to how things change through various processes like heating thus learning science. Children learnt that applying heat can make food more edible. They learnt that mixing water to flour together makes a dough and this dough when rolled is cooked and can be eaten. The children also learnt about shapes (circle), fine and gross motor skills as the children stirred the mixture.

This learning can be enhanced by using other food processing equipments . For example, using a food processor or grinder and I would also ask receipes from parents of different cultures so that next time we could try something else.

References:     

 Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga mo ngā
mokopuna o Aotearoa: Early  childhood curriculum. Wellington: Learning Media.


Ministry of Education, (2007). The New Zealand curriculum for English-medium
and learning in years 1-13. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media. 

   Smorti, S., (1999). Technology in Early Childhood. Early Education, No 19 Autumn.