In this blog post, I will share with you how to teach an Australia cooking class for kids that can be done in your home, homeschool group, or classroom.
I will show you the materials I used, how I planned the class for 14 students, and how I put a unique twist on the final stages of making this delicious dessert.
“Light as Air” Pavlova
This Australian recipe is called Pavlova. Pavlova is a meringue-based dessert topped with homemade whipped cream and fresh fruit.
Originating in Australia in the early 20th century, it was named after the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova because the dessert and the dancer are “light as air”.
I haven’t met a student in the last 10 years that hasn’t loved it.
In fact, in today’s class of 14 students, they ate every last crumb of four dinner plate-sized Pavlovas. That is equivalent to almost one-quarter of a pie EACH!
How to Teach this Australia Cooking Class for Kids
Here are the steps I took to teach my class about Pavlova using my Pavlova Recipe and Display Board and how we made the dessert as a group.
Before class, I prepared my Pavlova Recipe and Display Board. This is a must for every around-the-world kids class I teach.
Benefits of Using a Display Board to Teach A Cooking Class for Kids
Display boards enhance every class I teach and make learning much more interactive for my students.
Learning boards do exactly this:
– Take the learning off of the page/screen and into the imaginations of your students
– Invoke curiosity and wonder about the world of food through photos
– Serve as a learning tool that can be walked around a room, passed around in a group, referred to for recall, and used as a supplement for any country unit
– Add decoration and theme to a classroom or schoolroom
– Can be assembled by teachers or students as a precursor to any other country unit activity
The Pavlova Recipe and Display Board I created is a 13-page PDF digital download that includes the Pavlova recipe, step-by-step photo instructions, actual photos from my Australia cooking class, the display board printables, beautiful Australia graphics for decorating your board, tried and true tips and tricks, and an Australia country facts handout to invoke a new-found interest in Australia and inspiration for further studies.
Tips for Prepping Your Schoolroom to Teach an Australia Cooking Class
Before my students arrived I set the table and prepared fruit plates, one for each of the four groups. The wooden spoons in the photo are group dividers.
I chose fruits that were colorful and would be easy to cut with a dinner knife.
To start the class, I walked around the room, engaging my students with Pavlova Board, asking and answering questions:
Can anyone tell me why there might be a picture of a ballerina on this board?
Let’s look at the ingredients…you will see eggs as one ingredient. Because Pavlova is a meringue-based dessert, it is only the eggs whites that are used. Can someone tell me how to separate the yolk from the egg white?
What country is Pavlova from?
Can anyone tell me what the state sport of Australia is?
And on and on…
Creating Fruit Art In Groups
Next, we eagerly jumped right into making this delicious dessert.
I had already baked the Pavlovas ahead of time as our class length is only one hour. Do not be intimidated by this! The total time for making and baking the Pavlova is under 45 minutes.
This recipe makes two dinner plate-sized Pavlovas, so I made the recipe twice (note: I did NOT double the recipe…I made it twice) for four Pavlovas which was perfect for 14 students.
In table groups, students were tasked with cutting their fruit and strategizing a design for the top of the Pavlova. This was the interesting twist that made cutting fruit fun!
I gave them an empty dinner plate to lay out their design.
My students really enjoyed cutting their fruit and thought long and hard about which angle to cut their fruit in order to achieve the design they were looking to create.
As students worked together like artists with their fruit, I pulled table groups one at a time to prepare the homemade whipped cream.
Once the whipped cream had been made, they returned to their seats to spread the whipped cream evenly across the top of the Pavlova and then transfer their fruit art design onto the top.
This officially set my students into “get that in my belly” mode!
The end result was a beautiful display of Pavlovas ready to be devoured!
This around-the-world cooking class is twelve weeks long so we are creating simple recipe books to add each recipe to.
The recipe, which is included in my Pavlova Recipe and Display Board has a thumbs-up, thumbs down meter so students can record how much they liked the recipe.
Students always rush to their books after sampling the recipes to record their personal ratings.
We finished our class by personalizing the front cover with colored pencils. This was a nice wind-down activity after busily cooking our way through class.
How to get started teaching this Australia Cooking Class for Kids
To get started planning your Australia cooking class for kids, be sure to view the listing for my Pavlova Recipe and Display Board in my Etsy Shop called Countries On Board.
It is a 13-page PDF digital download that contains so much more than just a recipe. Click here to read all about it!
Good luck with your Australia cooking class!
Please leave comments or questions below. I would love to hear from you!
Also, be sure to follow my Etsy Shop (Countries On Board) and subscribe to my newsletter to learn more about how to bring world culture into the lives of your children or students, whether in your home, homeschool group, or classroom.
