Children are cooking up a storm at Rutland Street (not to mention pikelets, muffins and all sorts of exciting things)

- thanks to the hard work and generosity of their whanau, family and friends.

Look out Masterchef, there may just be some budding chefs in the making at Kidsfirst Rutland Street, with an impressive new kitchen installed over the summer break.

After some determined fundraising from the kindergarten community over the last couple of years, including trike-a-thons, and selling tea towels and calendars, the kindy now has a fabulous newly renovated kitchen, with new bench tops, cabinetry, oven, fridge and microwave.

Cooking is a big part of the curriculum at the kindy, and the old kitchen with a small bench- top oven severely limited what they could do.

“We look at the science behind cooking and baking, and nutritional aspects, but also the social side of things, cooking with friends, then sharing the food and having discussion time while we’re eating,” says Head Teacher Rachael Fleming, “So it’s wonderful to have a fully functional kitchen to be able to grow the children’s knowledge and interest in these things.”

To thank all of those who worked on constructing the new kitchen, the kindergarten put on a morning tea, with the children planning and cooking the food for the occasion.

“Our kindy community have fundraised long and hard for this, and we’re so grateful to everyone who has worked together to make this happen. In its couple of months, the kitchen has already provided a great source of learning and fun for the children,” Rachael says.

The kitchen is the first stage of a development project at the kindy, with further plans for an extended storage cupboard, new adult toilet and shower, and bi-fold doors.

There are other recipes and ideas you might like on our page on

KIDSFIRST KINDERGARTENS ARE A NOT FOR PROFIT ASSOCIATION THAT HAS DEVELOPED AND MAINTAINED KINDERGARTENS IN CHRISTCHURCH, CANTERBURY AND ON THE WEST COAST FOR OVER 100 YEARS - AS THE PLACE LOCAL KIDS COME TO LEARN, PLAY AND HAVE FUN.

The local community fundraised to get a new kitchen for Kidsfirst Rutland St.

The children are loving cooking in it, and learning from the experience.

THE LEARNING OUTCOMES

Cooking is not just something our kindergartens do for fun. It is a very valuable teaching and learning experience.

Any activity such as this provides the opportunity to look at several different aspects that can help a child's overall development.

There's the opportunity to take any interest or participation into other areas (such as where the ingredients come from, the science or dietary considerations). This can lead onto other educational opportunities.

There's a definite social aspect that involves sharing, co-operation and working together to achieve something. Plus the confidence that can often result from a sense of achievement. This can lead into a feeling of community and involvement.

Then there are the physical skills that develop with supervised activity.

Numeracy is another. When you need to measure it helps your skills in this area. How many eggs? Is that the right amount?

These are a few of the many different aspects that come out of what can seem like a simple task...

FIND OUR MORE ABOUT DIFFERENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES AND HOW WE

USE THE CURRICULUM TO HELP CHILDREN TO GROW AND DEVELOP