Pre-KG 2022 / 23 Blog 17
Nudel und Kugel
On their journey of learning about various food items, the Pre-Kindergarten children have found that there are certain basic foods that everyone eats and likes. Certainly bread and rice belong to these and can be found in their snack and lunch boxes every day as well as pasta / noodles.
Noodles are called Nudeln in German (sounds similar to English)) and they are so popular in Germany and all around the world that we can not imagine not eating them.
Actually, contrary to common belief, noodles were invented in China, not Italy.
Japan and other Asian countries also boasts their own noodle culture and lamen have become a household word these days with quite a big following.
When I visited Fukuoka last year, I made sure to visit the lamen street in the main station. Very delicious !
So when one of our children showed me her pasta lunch and all the other children chimed in that they love spaghetti, udon, soba and lamen, we decided to devote this week’s learnings to this subject.
For a hands on experience we first provided a variety of noodles (pasta) for the children to touch. They showed great interest in the shapes and texture and comments such as: it’s a snake, so curly, ganz hart, wie Locken….etc. could be heard.
They also loved to run the noodles through their fingers, count them or rattle them in the bowl.
We encouraged the children to be creative with the noodles and they wanted to make some faces which turned out to be lots of fun.
Well, as the children have learned about colours in their last unit, we got out plenty of colourful beads to string together with those noodles to make unique necklaces.
This activity turned out to be very popular and full of surprises for the teachers as some children showed amazing patience and great stringing skills.
During the week the children had practiced with larger beads and shapes and they did so well.
Tiffany can apply for the colourful creations of our young designers!
Art with noodles is always popular with children, so I thought they might have fun sticking them on a canvas with a coloured background.
If you have ever lived in Germany you might have come across a Kugelbild in a Kindergarten which is a painting made by a marble ball (Kugel) and drops of paint, creating a wonderful type of spider net art.
Every Kugelbild is unique and they are so charming and beautiful that you could actually sell them.
None of our children had done a Kugelbild before and they were absolutely fascinated by the rolling marble making its way through the paint again and again for a stunning effect.
As the paintings turned out so well, we left off the noodles and will feature the pictures in our upcoming art gallery. All children will make one, so please stay tuned for an update !
On Thursday we did another emergency walk, because we have a new friend in class and then the children wanted to see the display at the udon shop again. Those Japanese fake noodle lunches really do look enticing.
With many sealed packages of noodles still left in class, we asked the children if they would like to finally eat some. Yes, Ja, Hai, Oui !
Friday after P.E. was a good timing as everyone was hungry from the exercise.
“Cooking” has become very popular in our Pre-Kindergarten class and consisted this time of putting sauce on the pasta the teachers had cooked. After some initial instructions and the introduction of the ingredients and tools needed, the children were very attentive and so thrilled with the delicious result. It is always a treat to eat with friends and there were happy faces all around.
As the EY and Pre-Kindergarten class have friends of many different nationalities, the children are exposed to a variety of languages.
With several German speaking children in our Pre-KG class, we sometimes listen to German songs which are very popular with everyone.
Please enjoy these two fun German songs featuring a big fan of pasta (Nudeln jeden Tag ) and the cooking preferences of a family !
And last, not least a big welcome to the Kawakami family and their son Daiji !
Daiji had a great start into the week, was full of smiles and made friends fast.
We are so happy to have you in Pre-Kindergarten and in our school community !
Wishing you all a pleasant weekend,
Yours,
Anita Ursula Mönch
DSKI Pre-Kindergarten homeroom teacher
Playgroup / EY German
