Learn Together

Cooking is a fun way to learn proper hygiene, the importance of water, and basic scientific properties.

Materials

  • 1 pound cooked whole-wheat pasta
  • ½ pound low-fat fresh mozzarella
  • 5 small tomatoes
  • 2 bell peppers, different colors if possible
  • 1 15.5 ounce can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
  • ½ bunch fresh basil
  • 2 lemons
  • Olive oil, to taste
  • Balsamic vinegar, to taste
  • Salt and pepper, to taste

Make Together

Before joining Chef Cricket Azima from The Creative Kitchen in making some Playtime Pasta, we need to use the most important cooking ingredient of all – water! While cooking, we use water for everything — from washing our hands and preparing our fruits and vegetables to boiling pasta.

  • First, let’s wash our hands to get rid of any germs. Place your hands under running water, add soap, and lather it up by rubbing your hands together. Wash the backs of your hands, between your fingers, and underneath your fingernails! Scrub your hands for 20 seconds while singing ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb’, The ABCs Song, or ‘Happy Birthday’ twice.
  • Now it’s time to prepare our veggies. Take the tomatoes, bell peppers, and fresh basil, wash them under running water and set them aside to dry. Why do you think it’s important to wash fruits and vegetables before we eat them?
  • Next, we need to boil our pasta. Fill a large pot with water and set it on the stove to boil. Watch what happens as the water heats up. What do you notice? The water begins to evaporate and turn into steam, changing from a liquid to a solid. Once the water is boiling, pour the pasta in. How does the boiling water change the pasta? How does the pasta feel before it’s boiled? What about after?

You’re ready to go! Follow along with Chef Cricket’s video or the following directions to make your pasta!

  1. Place cooked pasta in a large mixing bowl.
  2. Dice mozzarella, tomatoes, and bell peppers, and add them to the bowl of pasta.
  3. Add beans to the bowl.
  4. Remove basil leaves from stems. Tear leaves into small pieces and add to the bowl.
  5. Juice lemons into bowl. Add olive oil and balsamic vinegar to pasta salad, a little at a time, to taste.
  6. Add salt and pepper, to taste, stir well, and eat!