Discover how our Early Years cooking workshops bring stories to life! Through hands-on food activities like The Very Hungry Caterpillar fruit skewers, children develop fine motor skills, explore new flavors, and enhance early literacy in a fun, interactive way.
Bringing Stories to Life Through Cooking: Early Years Workshops
At Classroom Kitchen, we believe that cooking is more than just a life skill—it’s a fantastic way to support early childhood development. Our Early Years cooking sessions are designed to instil a love of cooking from a young age while helping children strengthen their fine and gross motor skills. Cooking also introduces children to new foods, textures, and flavours, making mealtimes more exciting and educational.
One of our favourite ways to engage young learners is by linking cooking to well-loved storybooks. Story-based cooking workshops make learning interactive, memorable, and fun! From Goldilocks’ perfect porridge and the Gingerbread Man’s ginger biscuits to The Very Hungry Caterpillar’s fruit skewers, our workshops bring stories to life in a hands-on, sensory way.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar Cooking Workshop
In a recent Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) workshop, we worked with a fantastic Reception class to create The Very Hungry Caterpillar fruit kebabs. This session combined storytelling, food preparation, and hands-on learning to enhance literacy, fine motor skills, and food knowledge.
We started by reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar together, encouraging the children to join in with the repetitive phrases and recognise the different fruits mentioned in the story. As a class, we discussed the names of the fruits and explored the key question: What makes a fruit a fruit? The answer? Seeds! This simple discussion introduced an early science concept in a fun and relatable way.
How the session runs:
Before starting any food activity, we talked about the importance of keeping our hands clean when preparing and eating food. The children washed their hands, put on their aprons, and were ready to begin!
We then introduced safe knife skills using the bridge and claw chopping methods. The children carefully practiced these techniques as they prepared different fruits from the story—plus a few extras! This hands-on activity gave them the opportunity to develop their coordination and confidence with kitchen tools, using a variety of textures, from soft bananas to crunchy pears.
Once all the fruit was chopped, it was time for the children to assemble their fruit skewers. Using threading skills, they carefully selected which fruits to include, with many choosing to create colourful repeating patterns. This simple activity encouraged creativity, decision-making, and fine motor skill development.
One exciting moment was when children discovered new flavours—many had never tried plums before! We encouraged them to be adventurous with their choices, making the experience both educational and delicious.
After making their skewers, the children had the chance to taste their creations, sparking discussions about their favourite fruits. To reinforce their learning, we completed a follow-up activity where they matched the fruits and their names to the days of the week from the story.
Why Story-Based Cooking Works
Linking cooking activities to well-known stories provides a multi-sensory learning experience that enhances early literacy, maths, and science skills. It helps children:
✅ Develop fine motor skills through chopping, threading, and assembling
✅ Build confidence with food handling and kitchen tools
✅ Expand their vocabulary and comprehension by discussing ingredients and methods
✅ Explore new tastes and textures in a fun, low-pressure environment
The children absolutely loved this workshop—not only did they enjoy listening to the story and preparing the fruit, but they were also excited to taste their delicious skewers!
Bring Cooking into Your EYFS Classroom
Cooking is a fantastic way to bring learning to life for young children. Whether it’s making porridge with Goldilocks, baking ginger biscuits with The Gingerbread Man, or creating fruit skewers with The Very Hungry Caterpillar, story-based cooking activities provide a rich and engaging learning experience.
If you’d like to introduce cooking into your EYFS curriculum, get in touch with us! We offer hands-on, educational cooking workshops that inspire children to explore food in a fun and meaningful way.
