Explore the Café

• Encourage a discussion about cafés and restaurants.
• Consider asking questions like:
  • What cafés do we have in our community?
  • What do people do at cafés?
  • What kinds of food do cafés offer?
• Teach the children how to take an order like a server at a café. Explain that servers need to listen carefully and sometimes take notes to ensure they get the correct order.
• Give each child a printable order sheet.
• Explain that you will be a customer and that you will tell them several items you would like to order. Each order sheet lists different items, so make sure to order at least one item from each sheet.
• Ask the children to place a check mark in the box below each item you order to ensure they get your order right!
• Model how to use the menu by placing your order, pointing to each item as you “order” it.

• Tell the children that they are going to help build menu items for the café.
• Ask them to sit in a circle. Model how to choose a recipe card and build the item shown.
• Hand each child a recipe card showing a menu item you ordered earlier and encourage them to build the item. You may choose recipe cards that match their abilities and assist as needed.

• Facilitate a discussion about the menu items the children have built.
• Consider asking questions like:
  • Which menu item did you build?
  • How many bricks did you use?
  • How did you know how to build the menu item?

• Tell the children that you have discovered a delicious but secret type of cake. It’s so secret that there is no written recipe!
• Explain that you are going to give them careful instructions for how to make this cake.
• Choose a “Secret Recipe” inspiration photo. Look at the image and give verbal step-by-step instructions for building it. As you give the instructions, make sure to emphasize positional language as well as descriptive words about color and shape.
• Once the children have finished building, show them the chosen photo so they can see what you described.

Tip:
To simplify this activity, give each child the bricks needed to build the cake.

Observing the following skills can help you monitor whether the children are developing the necessary competencies in math.

• Using mathematical terms, such as positional language, number names, etc.
• Counting using number names, and beginning to recognize the number of objects
• in a set