Cooking up a storm at River View Day Nursery

Budding young chefs from River View Day Nursery in Hertford were delighted to showcase their culinary skills as they created their very own pasta dishes from scratch.

After washing their hands and putting on aprons and hair nets, pre-schoolers from the Ofsted-rated ‘Outstanding’ Day Nursery on North Road laid out their individual placemats, which list any dietary requirements, before talking about safety precautions whilst cooking and the importance of using alternative ingredients to accommodate those with allergies.

As part of the learning experience, children practiced their hand-eye co-ordination and mathematical abilities by weighing out the gluten-free flour using scales, as well as using their communication and language skills to describe the colour, smell and texture of the ingredients and fine motor skills to mix and knead the pasta dough.

Having named pasta types from memory, children cut their dough into the desired shapes, before adding it to the pan to be boiled. Meanwhile, pre-schoolers picked an array of fresh herbs and vegetables from their garden allotment area outside, including basil, courgette and peppers, which they chopped themselves after receiving guidance on knife safety.

Back inside, talented Nursery Chef, Danielle Matthews, put the finishing touches to the children’s dishes, which were served alongside a rhubarb and apple crumble for dessert, lovingly made by the kitchen team using ingredients from Danielle’s own family allotment.

River View Day Nursery Deputy Manager, Jolanta Zabulionyte explained;

“The children had the best time making their pasta dishes and were so proud to use ingredients from the garden which they had grown themselves. This was a fantastic experience which the children were part of from start to finish, and provided so many opportunities to talk about topics including kitchen safety and healthy eating.”

It is for such activities that River View have been awarded a prestigious Green Flag award as part of the international Eco-Schools scheme, the highest accolade is the programme, which is given for exceptional environmental awareness practices, including growing vegetables, litter picking and creating habitats for wildlife.