Today was Teoman's day. The whole week is his - but today was the day I was to visit his class and do a small activity with the students. I had made the plan with the teachers weeks before - and just as the kids and kids' parents before me - it was my turn to come in and do something for Teoman.
Teoman wanted to make cookies. That's what he told me when I asked what we should do. And play a game he added. Tolga had hoped he could avoid going to the field because he didn't want to miss this either - but he was away, and it couldn't be helped.
I saw the school's webpage with picture of other parents' activities and I felt a bit of pressure. Presents, cut out violins, planting tulips, oil and water experiments. Game on!
I thought of lots of ideas what to do - I mean, it's hard to reign it back - and in the end, I created quite the "situation" as Tolga would call it.
We made chocolate chip cookies two nights before for the teachers and ourselves, and chocolate-chip cookies minus the chocolate chips for the students (allergies). While the students were at garden time I was setting everything up. The kids came in while I trying to hook up the projector (phase 1 of the situation). They came up to me real close and examined my face - they all knew why I was there, that I was Teoman's mom - and they had to get a closer look. I knelt down and talked to a few. Asking their names.
Phase 1 was calling Tolga in the field. That's how Tolga figured he could still be a part of it - but he worried they wouldn't have reception - and they didn't. Our call didn't connect, we criss-crossed dialed in our impatience, it was poor connection and choppy sound when we did. The kids didn't seem to follow any of it. When I told them it was Teoman's Baba on the mountain -the all waved at the video of themselves saying, "That's the mountain? That's Teoman's Baba?" Tolga said hello and have fun - in general - in the end - and we all said bye and moved to phase 2.
I had bowls on a small table of three different sizes, filled with flour, white sugar and brown. I showed the kids the items, had a few come up and feel the flower and taste the sugar. We repeated the words and colors and I showed them the eggs and sent them to their tables. Teoman was by my side, telling me what he'd do next. He handed out the 8 mixing bowls, and 8 cups and I assigned a "mixer" and someone for "ingredients". The one with the cup would come up and fill his or her cup with flour. Then half of the cup with sugar, then a quarter of the cup with brown sugar. Then I gave the classroom teachers teaspoons and one jar of salt, another a jar of baking soda, and me the jar of vanilla. We went around the room scooping a spoon into the cups and telling them to mix mix mix. Lastly I poured a half cup of oil into each, and they were supposed to attempt to break their own eggs by tap tap tapping - but I think the teacher took over at this point.
In fact - I kind of lost track of what was happening - I'm sure kids came up multiple times for ingredients - or missed one - or ate or spilled it. They are preschoolers.
They were a bit shocked that they were being allowed to mix with their hands - but soon all were getting messy. Teoman had decided to do his own, and informed me his was too sticky and needed more flour.
Then I went around showing each how to roll a ball. I didn't stop and teach it - I just went table to table. Telling them to roll roll roll. One showed me how hers kept crumbling, so I showed her a big chunk of dough was easier. I had brought two baking sheets and the kids were rolling all sorts of sizes of balls and putting them on the baking sheet. I had wet cloths at each table for them to wipe their hands and in the end both baking sheets were full. One looked cute, the other looked gross.
I had all the kids sit down while I put the cookies in the oven. The oven was iffy - and while I wanted to show them their product on the sheet - I figured it was 50/50 whether the cookies would turn out (not to mention the germs) - so the plan was for this dough to go straight to the garbage.
I came back only seconds later.
"The cookies are ready!" I pulled out little baggies I had prepared with two cookies each and a ribbon. "This is the cookies you made! Great job! Don't the cookies look great!"
They were a bit surprised but one boy named Emre looked at me suspiciously and said, "That was two fast!"
Teoman added, "I know your joking."
The other kids didn't pick up on it.
The teacher took a photo and it was over. I didn't look at the time - but I had at some point and we had kept it right around 30 minutes - I think I was most impressed with that part - I can never get the timing right in my own classroom.
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