Ayyam-i-Ha in Guatemala by Linda Coulter-Jones

A couple years ago, for Ayyam-i-Ha the pre-youth group from Xela (Quetzaltenango) were invited to make cookies at our house for families. But first, we had some things to learn. Opened it up with a talk about nutrition for lunch, with salad and soup. One mom brought some soda with her but we talked about the importance of balancing a healthy diet, with fresh fruits and veggies, protein (in this case a black bean soup) and watching fats, salts and sugars. The kids dug into their lunch and then were ready for cookies.

But first, Math!! I told them that all cooking is math and science, mainly chemistry. Math is taught in schools here, but not well. It seems to be mainly theory with little practical application. So we talked about measurements, fractions, multiplication and division. Cup, half cup, third cup. It is interesting that Guatemala uses the metric system for almost everything, but still uses some American measurements like cups and teaspoons.

Then it was time to wash hands — a conversation about the importance of being clean when you cook — and start measuring ingredients. Mixing went well, but there was some challenges rolling out the cookie dough, which they had to measure to get to the right thickness.

I have a big box of cookie cutters, with letters, numbers and shapes. The kids decided what messages they wanted to cook and eat, and they went to work. As the cookies came out of the oven, they were all ready to taste test. We had lots of colors of frosting, different ways to decorate the cookies, and the kids went wild!! They were kind with each other, sharing well, but man was the kitchen a mess.

When they had plates ready to take home, it was clean up time. Some washed dishes, some swept up the messes on the floor, some gathered all the ingredients to put away and some washed the table. Then was time to play a bit.

The kids learned a lot, and of course wanted to come back. It was a service project as well as an outing, and lessons on math, chemistry and nutrition.