What’s Cooking? - Day Four –iPOP
Have you ever been to iHOP? The International House of Pancakes? Well, today we are going to visit iPOP. The International Preschool of Pancakes!! Did you know that pancakes exist in just about every culture in one form or another? Just for fun, have the children wear their pajamas today. It would also be good to bring a favorite stuffed animal to share pancakes with.

Circle Time Ideas
Just for fun, let the children lay down on their special blankies to hear the following story.

Good Book
Mr. Wolf’s Pancakes
By Jan Fearnley

This is another twist on the traditional Little Red Hen Tale. But, in this story, the infamous wolf (“The Big Bad Wolf”) wants to make pancakes the way his grandma used to, but he is a klutz in the kitchen. So, he asks various nursery rhyme characters for help and is treated very badly. He figures out how to make the pancakes himself and very nicely invites those who were mean to him to his house for pancakes. In the end, Mr. Wolf eats the nursery rhyme characters all up with pancakes on the side. Read this book and let the children compare the previous two stories to this one. Obviously, the main characters have changed. But, what other differences do they notice? What are the similarities? Facilitate a conversation about the three stories.


Making Batter
On pages 137-138 you will find the pictures necessary to make a “Pancake Recipe Card.” Cut the pictures out and make a recipe card from the pictures for the children to follow while they help you make pancake batter.  When they are finished making the batter, bring it to the cooking center for Pancake Pandemonium.


Movement
Pancake Flipping
Pancake flipping is fun! Bring spatulas, and real pancakes to the circle. Show the children how to scoop up a pancake, flip it into the air and catch it with the spatula again. Have plenty of spatulas available so there is not a lot of waiting for a turn. Just for fun, blindfold a child and see if he can flip and catch pancakes without his eyesight.

Movement
Making Butter
Fill baby food jars with heavy cream and secure the lids. Put on some “Shaking” music and dance around the classroom while shaking the jars. Butter will begin to form in about 5 minutes but five minutes feels like an awfully long time when you are a 4 year old. It may be best to have one jar for every two children. Then, they can take turns shaking the jars. Add honey to the butter and save it for the pancakes.

 More Good Pancake Books

Pancakes Pancakes Pancakes
By Eric Carle


If You Give a Pig a Pancake
By Laura Numeroff


Messy Table
Cracking and Beating
Bring cartons of eggs to the messy table. Cracking eggs is every child’s biggest treat. Give each child a small, plastic bowl and invite them each to crack two eggs into their bowls. Show them how to use a wire whisk to beat the eggs until smooth. Then, let them add a splash of milk, a dash of salt and a pinch of pepper. After they beat the mixture one more time, teach them how to make microwave scrambled eggs. It’s easy! Cover the bowl of beaten eggs with a napkin and place it into a microwave oven. Cook for one minute and stir. Cook at 30 second intervals stirring each time until you have puffy eggs. Let the children scramble to eggs in the bowls and enjoy them immediately.


Cut & Color Table
Recipe Cards
Making recipe cards is kind of kinder-garden-ish but I really want the children be able to go home and encourage mom and dad to cook with them. A pancake recipe card would be the perfect incentive. Give each child a copy of the pictures on the following page. Let them cut the pictures out, color them and use them to recreate the following pancake recipe to use at home.
(I'm sorry but the recipe card graphics cannot be formatted
for the webpage but is available in Volume 4)
Pancake Recipe
(Never let children get close to the griddle when hot)


Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
Combine egg yolks, milk, and butter.
Add liquid to flour mixture.
Beat until well blended.
Beat egg whites until rounded peaks are formed.
Spread beaten egg white over batter and fold gently together.
Heat griddle. Griddle is ready when drops of water dance in small beads when sprinkled.
Lightly grease the griddle if necessary.
Pour batter onto griddle into pools about four inches in diameter.
Turn pancakes when they become puffy and bubble.

Creative Art
Circles and Circles and Circles
Things you will need:

  • Large sheets of paper
  • A huge variety of round objects for printing
  • Golden brown paint
  • Toppings cut from paper
  • Glue
Let the children dip the round objects into the brown paint and print with them on large paper. They can pretend like the circles are pancakes. Encourage them to cut paper to make toppings for their “pancakes.” They can use glue to stick the toppings to the pancakes. Remind the children that pancakes traditionally come in the shape of a circle. But, nobody ever said that circles were the only pancake possibility. When they get to the cooking center they will find out just how many different shapes a pancake can be.
The Cooking Center


Pancake Pandemonium!!
Heat up a griddle up and keep it in front of an adult at all times. Pour pancake batter into squirt bottles and allow the children to make wacky-shaped pancakes by squirting the batter directly onto the griddle. Because the griddle will be hot, do this part with only one child at a time and be sure to keep their hands far from the heat. (If you cannot insure proper supervision, allow the children to pour the batter, then turn the griddle on as the child stands away from the heat)  After the pancakes have been made, let the children move to the topping center.


Terrific Toppings
Face it! These pancakes are wacky and they require more than just butter. Provide the homemade butter and bowls of other yummy toppings to finish off the pancake masterpieces.

Some topping ideas include:

  • Sliced Strawberries
  • Blueberries
  • Coconut
  • Granola
  • Chocolate chips
  • Peanut butter and jelly

Outside
Let’s Go to IPOP
Bring all of the classroom chairs outside and line them up in rows that resemble seats in a van. There should be a driver’s seat, a front seat passenger and six backseat passengers in each van. Allow the children to pretend like it is Saturday morning and daddy said we could go to a restaurant for breakfast. The teacher might want to begin the dramatic play by jumping in the driver’s seat and inviting some children to go along. You can hang a sign that says, IPOP on a play yard wall for effect.