Family and Consumer Science Fall Lesson Plans
In the Fall time, the leaves change, there is a cool breeze and everyone starts to gather inside. Naturally, everyone gathers in the kitchen which makes it a great time to use up your remaining fruits and veggies, to can, and to make the classroom smell delicious.
Here are a few culinary arts activities ideas that can help you plan your fall-time food labs and seasonal lessons.
1- Pie Sale- A pie sale is a great way to raise funds for your culinary program and every year it is a hit in our school. We use an order form and have teachers and families order. These disposable pie pans are what we order to give the pies in. We offer 3 different pies, apple, pumpkin, and pecan. Charging $12 a pie and $13 for pecan allows for proceeds to go to the senior class, the rest goes back into our program.
2– Chili Cook-Off– You can plan an entire week with a chili cook-off. Students research chili, create invitations for staff to be taste testers, mise en place and cook the chili, gather the appropriate accouterment, get the score sheets and kitchen ready for the event, and more. The kids can work in groups of 2 or more depending on your class size. If you need to rotate the groups that make the chili, we have a chili cook-off lesson that includes a reading and questions about chili that the non-cooking group can work on while the others cook.
Here is a list of chili recipes if you want to allow your students to choose their recipes from the internet. This site includes white chicken chili and other types of chilis.
3- Make Homemade Apple Cider- this is a great option because it is an affordable food lab for the classroom and it makes the whole hallway smell delicious. Grab the printable recipe here!
Grab this free Thanksgiving meal-planning activity that will get your students thinking about planning a Thanksgiving meal even if you aren’t planning on having them cook.
We have a complete Fall and Thanksgiving Foods Lesson Bundle on TPT if you want to have a solid plan for a couple of weeks! It includes a Fall Foods Lesson, recipes, Chili Cook-Off project, and a Pies Lesson with guided notes and questions.
Thanksgiving is a fun time to have students brainstorm the types of dishes that are traditionally served. Learning about the history of Thanksgiving foods and making recipes such as cranberry sauce and creamed corn can make the meal seem more attainable.
