still exploring...for real

Exploring the notion of real and pretend seems most natural when it comes to food. Our dramatic play area is brimming with plastic grapes, cheese, and bread so impromptu picnics on the beach or in outer space are all feasible options...in our imaginations.

And as for the real, we are lucky enough to have a hotplate and an oven in our classroom which makes semi-homemade treats a reality like this yummy muffin mix.


Thanks to Trader Joe's for the semi-homemade help.


We mixed all of the very real ingredients together...


allowing the smell of freshly baked (muffin) bread to fill our room. And then we dug in, eating our treat during snack time.


While the bread was in the oven, the cooking crew began prepping, cooking, and baking their play dough treats. Children are such natural writers. Their writing is spontaneous, purposeful, and on their own terms. As C read this recipe to me he said it called for "1 pickle, 2 juicy tomatoes, 4 spices and then you put it in the oven for 30 minutes." This is his pickle recipe of course.