Why Every ESL Teacher Should Consistently Incorporate Cooking Lessons When Teaching Children

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Some years ago, I had the chance to work for an unusual bilingual program. The program consistently included games, crafts, and cooking as some of the main activities, and as you might imagine, children obviously loved this. Speaking for myself, at first, I didn’t think this was an effective methodology because of the mess and intensified excitement the kids experienced during these type of activities. However, as the years passed, I began to see their great benefits when applied with the correct approach.  Although the use of recipes has a special place in the ESL teachers’ hearts, there are many more reasons why we should use them more regularly to enhance the quality of our ESL lessons.

1. Engagement: The first reason why English teachers plan cooking lessons much more frequently is children’s engagement. There are few activities that make our children happier than having a cooking class; they love them because they really are hands-on lessons, and in the end, the children can eat what they have cooked. Cooking lessons are also a great way to produce emotion in our learners. Remember, according to neuroscience, individuals only learn when they are excited, and this is a great opportunity to introduce our learners to new topics and challenges. If you haven’t read my two articles about neuroscience, you may click on the links below:

Exploring the Benefits of Integrating Arts in ESL, EFL, and ESOL Lessons: Insights from Neuroscientists

 Enhancing ESL, EFL, and ESOL Lessons: The Neuroscientific Benefits of Sports and Movement Games

Interaction: The act of having our kids talk about food and ingredients provides a laidback environment, which in turn creates a calming atmosphere in which the children can practice speaking in a much more informal way. This will subsequently support their proficiency advancement. At the time of the cooking activity, the children may speak and ask others, in English, for their ingredients and utensils. This will allow them to practice what we, as teachers, have previously taught them. The cooking might be the perfect time to practice expressions, so you must ensure that your students know some to use during the lesson:

Could you please pass me the ____________?

• Would you mind giving me ______________, please?

• Who’s in charge of ___________?

• Can you help me find the ___________ in the pantry?

• How long does this dish need to cook for?

• Who wants to be in charge of ____________?

• Is anyone allergic to _______________?

2. Eating together promotes the use of the target language: The act of eating together promotes happiness, which promotes casual conversation. In the past, after having finished cooking, I would take my children to the dining room or playground, and starting the conversation in English, I would play speaking games like “Guess Who I Am Talking About,” or “Taboo,” so that they could use the language I had previously taught them. In doing this, the use of the English language seemed to flow with ease. Most of the children seemed to be really engaged and happy while eating our delicious recipes. Certainly, you can suggest and adapt any other topics while eating with your learners; just try to keep it amusing, simple, and pleasing.

2. Creativity: Cooking lessons may become a perfect excuse to strengthen creativity. You can divide your class into groups, supply them with a set of ingredients, and challenge them to create something new and delicious. These types of activities are extremely electrifying and most of my groups are delighted. But remember, sometimes students’ culinary experiments fail, so make sure you have some extra sweets, if necessary.

2. Multi-Sensory Learning: In this type of class, students are allowed to explore the world with their five senses: touch, smell, taste, sight, and hearing. This will make learning a much more meaningful task that will facilitate learners to absorb contents substantially.  Let your learners explore the ingredients, experiment, and of course get a kick out of them. A good and classic way to do this is to blindfold one of them and ask them to try to discover what they have in their hands by using one of their senses.

2. 4 Skills Practice: The culinary class may also be the optimal moment to practice the four skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing) simultaneously due to the fact that the students need to comprehend instructions, communicate orally to make decisions with their classmates, pay attention to their teacher and classmates’ questions, and request and work on a worksheet, or any other written task you may want them to do. The proposed activities may include describing the origin of a recipe, the most effective way to sell it, and other activities of your choice. The quality of the tasks will depend on the teacher’s creativity and objectives.

2. Cultural Knowledge: During the cooking lessons, our children will be able to learn about food as well as about its history, the countries where certain recipes are prepared and eaten, and the customs that surround them.

2. Interdisciplinary: Culinary classes involve a wide range of topics that can be embraced:

• Math: measuring and weighing the ingredients

• Geography and History: learning about other countries, their locations, and cuisine

• Science: Learning about food composition, nutrients, healthy food choices, and eating. Additionally, we can also study the chemical reactions that happen while cooking.

• Entrepreneurship: how to start a cooking business, costs, sales, budget, expenses, marketing strategy, etc.

• English: The language can be used to describe the recipe, explain its origin, express opinions, engage in peer interaction, and deliver formal presentations.

In conclusion, cooking lessons may offer pupils many more learning opportunities than the ones teachers typically imagine. Having clear objectives and a multidisciplinary approach might transform a simple lesson into a whole project.

The following is a Halloween recipe you may want to do with your ESL children. Make sure you download it because it is completely free.

If you want to learn more about no-prep games for the ESL classroom, check my Instagram account.